Two Paths
by Sillica4Ever
Summary: Sakura is on a very important mission to the Fire Country. While there, she meets an unexpected person. What will happen to her? What will she do?
1. Chapter 1

hey guys!! this is my new story!!

Hope you enjoy it!

**Chapter 1**

The afternoon rays of the sun beat down on the top of the pink-haired kuniochi's head. Sakura had been traveling for a week now to the Fire Country. She was on a mission. It was just like any other mission, but only thing difference was that she was assigned to it by herself. No Naruto, no rookie 9, no one. Tsunade-sama rarely gave her missions because she was needed so much back in Konoha. She was needed 24/7 in the hospital because she Konoha's top kuniochi and top medic-nin.

"Yeah, that's what I get for being Konoha's top medic-nin, nonstop hours at the hospital," thought Sakura as she went through her conversation with Tsunade-sama about the mission before she left.

Flashback

_"Knock Knock"_

_"Come in Sakura," said Tsunade as she cleared some paperwork on her desk._

_"Tsunade-sama, why did you call me to your office?" asked Sakura._

_"Sakura, I'm sorry I'm telling you on such short notice, but you are assigned to a solo mission to the Fire Country," said Tsunade._

_"No, it's alright. What is the mission about, sensei?" asked Sakura as she sat herself down in a chair._

_"Well, there is this rumor going around villages that a group of ninjas planning to attack Konoha. To tell if what we're hearing is a rumor or not, you need to go to the Fire Country and do a little snooping," said Tsunade._

_"Snooping? What do you mean by snooping?" asked Sakura._

_"Over the past few weeks, we've tracked down a ninja that works under the guy who's in charge. He's in the Fire Country to do some errands for his boss, so you'll go to the Fire Country and follow him around, gathering information as much as you can. Once you're done that, come right back to Konoha with the information," said Tsunade._

_"Hmm... it doesn't seem that hard. Is it okay if I do a little interrogating- ninja-style?" asked Sakura with a evil grin on her face._

_"Hmm... you may, as long as you hide your headband and true appearance. You never know what might happen," said Tsunade._

_Hai, Tsunade- sama. Oh, I almost forgot, when should I leave?" asked Sakura._

_"First thing tomorrow morning, Sakura, and good luck my apprentice," said Tsunade._

_"Hai, Tsunade-sama. I won't let you or Konoha down," said Sakura as she stood up to leave._

_"Sakura, just as much as you are an apprentice to me, you are a daughter figure to me. Please be safe when you're on this mission. No matter what happens to you on this mission, I believe that you will pull through and get home safely," said Tsunade with a concerned look on her face._

_"Hai, Tsunade-sama. Wish me luck," said Sakura as she smiled at her sensei and left the Hokage Tower._

End of Flashback

"Hmm... I wonder why Tsunade-sama was so worried about me. It doesn't seem that hard of a mission," said Sakura as she jumped from branch to branch.

After a while, Sakura stopped and rested. She thought about all the past things that had happened to her and came upon one hilarious memory.

Flashback

_Team 7 was on a mission to the Sand Village where they had to get a scroll for Tsunade. It turned dark and they had to stop and rest for the night. Sakura prepared ramen for the team and handed them out._

_"Ramen, again? This is our third time eating ramen," whined Kakashi as he grabbed his bowl of ramen._

_"Stop complaining Kakashi-sensei! Once we get to the Sand Village, we'll get food other than ramen," said Sakura as she went over to Sasuke._

_"Here Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as a blush appeared on her cheeks._

_"Hn," said Sasuke as he quickly grabbed the bowl of ramen._

_Sakura then walked to Naruto, who was eager to accept the bowl of ramen._

_"Here you go Naruto," said Sakura._

_"RAMEN!! Arigato, Sakura-chan!!" said Naruto with a big smile on his face._

_"I don't know how the boy can love ramen so much," said Kakashi as he slurped up a noodle._

_"Hn, the dobe can't last one day without ramen," said Sasuke, loud enough for his team to hear._

_"What did you say teme? Why you-" said Naruto as he stood up and walked over to Sasuke._

_But all of a sudden, Naruto tripped on a branch on the ground with the ramen spilling everywhere, including Sasuke._

_"Sasuke-kun, what about your dinner?" asked Sakura._

_"Just give it to dobe," said Sasuke._

_"Yay!!" said Naruto as he quickly consumed Sasuke's untouched ramen._

End of Flashback

"Wow, I laughed so hard that day that my stomach hurt like crazy. Then the look on Sasuke's face when the ramen landed on him- hilarious!" thought Sakura as she smirked.

But then, the smirk disappeared as she thought about Sasuke. Him leaving her, Konoha, and Team 7 ached and pained her heart.

"The cold-hearted bastard! Why would he do this to me? Why would he leave me in pain? In tears? I know, he didn't care about any of us, all he cared about was avenging his clan and gaining power," thought Sakura.

"Do I even love him anymore? If he does come back, will I be there to welcome him with open arms?" thought Sakura.

"There's no point in gaining hope. I'm never going to see him again and he's never coming back," said Sakura, sighing as she stood up to continue her way to the Fire Country.

* * *

First chapter done! Things are going to get more interesting so stay tuned!!

Many good reviews please!!

Cilla

_"Oh no!! My precious ramen!!" said Naruto as he started to tear up._

_"Sasuke-kun! Look at you!" said Sakura, trying so hard not to laugh at him._

_The ramen noodles were everywhere on Sasuke, his hair, arms, legs, everywhere. Kakashi started to laugh hysterically. Sakura, not being able to hold back, started laughing like crazy._

_"Dobe! Look at what you've done! You always create a mess, don't you!" said Sasuke as he stood up to go change._

_"I'm sorry, teme, really," said Naruto with sadness on his face of losing his precious ramen._

_"Urgh, I'm going to sleep, I'm not eating anymore," said Sasuke as he disappeared into his tent._


	2. Chapter 2

going on a good pace!! lol many reviews plz!

**Chapter 2**

Sakura traveled nearly 10 miles when it started to get dark. She stopped and set up a tent and prepared food for herself. As she was eating her food, she couldn't help but think about how the gang used to hang out at Ichiraku's all the time, because of Naruto of course. Over the past 5 years since Sasuke left, she became so distant from the gang.

"No fights with Ino, no punching Naruto for rude comments, no running away from Lee all the time," thought Sakura.

Ever since Sasuke left, Sakura became the new "icecube" of Konoha. She always was striving for strength, power, and training- ONLY.

"Sounds a lot like someone I know, or used to know," thought Sakura.

Sakura thanked Sasuke in a way because if he didn't point out the flaws in her, she wouldn't have become the kuniochi or the medic-nin she is today.

"I was never meant for him. He thought I was annoying, weak, and another obsessive fangirl of his. Yeah, I admit, I was a fangirl when we were little, and it was just a crush, but the day he left Konoha...left me, I realized that the crush I had for Uchiha Sasuke developed into a real and true love. I wanted to help him, I wanted to show him that I cared," thought Sakura as she went into her tent and got ready for bed.

Sakura thought even more, "No one knew how Sasuke felt when his own brother murdered his clan, and neither did I, but now, I think I know how he would have felt because in the 5 years that passed after he left, so many things came into my life at once. I think that is one of the two reasons why I'm so cold and distant, because I've been through things that others haven't been through. The other reason why I think I'm so cold and distant is that I couldn't help the one person who I loved with all my heart. Instead of helping him and lifting him up, I annoyed him and dragged him down because I was weak."

"Do I love him though? Do I want to still help him?" asked Sakura to herself as she fell into a deep slumber. Slowly, she was starting to have a dream...

_"Sakura... who did this to you... who?" said Sasuke with an evil tone in his voice that made Sakura quiver._

_As Sasuke approached the ninja, weird marks started to appear all over his skin. Sakura, afraid of what will happen, held onto him from behind._

_"No!! Please!! Stop!!" cried Sakura as she cried into Sasuke. Sasuke's marks started to disappear as Sasuke fell onto the ground._

_XXXX_

_"I love you with all my heart! Just please, don't leave!" cried Sakura._

_"After all these years, you're still annoying," said Sasuke as he turned back to continue on his journey._

_"If you leave, I'll scream and-"_

_"...Sakura... thank you..."_

"Sasuke...don't leave me... Sasuke please!!" cried Sakura in her sleep.

With a gasp, Sakura woke up from her dream.

"Sasuke... why...?" thought Sakura as she fell asleep once more.

* * *

The next day...

Sakura woke up and got ready to start on her journey again. She checked her chakra level, her kunais, and started to travel to the Fire Country. As she went on her way, she couldn't help but think about the dream she had the night before.

"Hmm... I haven't had a dream about Sasuke in ages... I wonder what happened..." thought Sakura.

As she thought about the dream, she focused herself and thought about the mission. She then remembered the envelope that Tsunade-sama had given her right before she left.

"I wonder what it is..." said Sakura as she opened it up.

_Sakura, I forgot to tell you the day before what the guy that you were to spy on looked like._

"Yeah, it would help if you tell me, won't it, Tsunade-sama?" Sakura thought amusingly as she read on.

_From what we know, he has grayish hair, but is not old. He always wears glasses, so he'll be easy to locate. He also wears dark clothes. That's what we know so far, so I hope you can identify him quickly once you get there. Please be safe no matter what,_

_Tsunade-sama_

"Hmm... he sounds familiar... I just can't think of who it is..." thought Sakura. (A/N: yes, WE all know who it is, so bear with me)

As Sakura put the letter in her pouch, she began to stare in awe at the sight that was before her. The Fire Country was marveling than anything she had ever seen. The bright red flags on the houses, the magnificent decorations everywhere, and the great smells of food drew Sakura into it even more. Sakura then snapped back into reality of her mission and started to walk into the marvelous city.

"Why are they having a celebration?" thought Sakura as she passed the decorations and people dressed in beautiful clothes made of fine silk.

Suddenly, snapping her out of the sights was a gray-haired, glasses wearing, dark clothes owning person. He was walking in front of her, but she could see the light glinting off of the glasses.

"So familiar..." she thought as her eyes grew wide at the sudden click of her mind.

"Kabuto!! That's why he was so familiar!!" thought Sakura as she thought back to the big battle she had a year ago with Kabuto.

"Wait... if Kabuto is the trusted advisor of the guy who's planning the attack, then it has to be...Orochimaru!!" thought Sakura.

XXX

For the whole day, she followed Kabuto around, and she cloaked her headband and appearance to trick him, just as Tsunade-sama told her to do. Now, she had no headband, and had black hair with dark brown eyes. Finally, after hours of following Kabuto around, not gathering needed information, she decided on "interrogating" him to get the information that she needed from him. Yes, it was a dangerous plan, but she knew she could beat Kabuto any day. As Kabuto walked into a secluded area, Sakura followed him there. Suddenly, Kabuto turns around and spots Sakura, but doesn't know it's her.

"Who are you, and why are you following me around?" asked Kabuto with an evil look on his face.

"That is none of your business. Now, I want some answers out of you. Is Orochimaru really attacking Konoha, or is it just bullshit that someone made up?" asked Sakura, giving him the death glare that she perfected over the years.

"Why do you care if Lord Orochimaru attacks Konoha or not?" asked Kabuto, smirking.

"Because I care, retard. Now tell me, is he?" said Sakura, getting frustrated.

"Well, I'm afraid that he is going to attack Konoha and nothing is going to get in his way. His plan will succeed," said Kabuto.

"Really? Well I'm afraid not," answered Sakura.

"For a girl who's pretty strong with words, you look weak," said Kabuto, showing his evil smirk.

The one thing Sakura hated was being called weak, so she attacked Kabuto. She charged at him with her chakra-filled fist, landing it right into his jaw. Bleeding, Kabuto stood up and threw numerous amounts of kunai at Sakura. Sakura dodged all but two, one landing in her shoulder, the other landing in her arm. Sakura started to use hand-techniques against Kabuto, which he couldn't stand up against. As Kabuto lay on the floor, bleeding.

"You remind me of a pink-haired kuniochi that I fought a year ago," said Kabuto.

Ignoring what he said, Sakura went up to him, "when is Orochimaru attacking Konoha?"

Kabuto remained silent, not giving in. Sakura punched him in the stomach and asked once again, "when is the bastard attacking?"

Kabuto swearing to himself and admitting defeat, "he's attacking in two months, he's getting all of his ninjas fit and trained, and there's about 5,000 of them."

"Anything else you want to tell me?" said Sakura.

Kabuto, coughing up blood, "Lord Orochimaru will kill you. I promise."

"Really? Let's see what happens," said Sakura.

Sakura punched Kabuto once again in the jaw and left. She uncloaked her headband and appearance, returning back to normal. It was weird, but during the whole battle with Kabuto, she felt as if someone was watching her. Having the feeling once more, she turned around. No one. Sakura then walked into another secluded area of the city, ready to strike if need be. Suddenly, she heard a deep, familiar voice.

"Sakura," said the voice.

"Who are you? Show yourself!" said Sakura as she looked all around her.

"Sakura, you couldn't have forgotten me already," said the voice as it descended from the rooftops to in front of Sakura.

Sakura, wide- eyed, looked at the person in front of her in disbelief.

* * *

Cliffie but u know who it is by now!!

Yay!! end of chapter 2!!

things getting more interesting, right??

many reviews plz!!

Cilla


	3. Chapter 3

okie dokie!! Chapter 3!!

* * *

**Chapter 3**

"So, Orochimaru is planning an attack on Konoha, eh?" said the figure.

"Sa-sa-sasuke?" whispered Sakura as she stared at the figure in front of her.

"Hello, Sakura, long time no see," said Sasuke, with no emotion to his face, as always.

Sakura, snapping back to reality, "what are you doing here. Leave me alone, I do not want to see you again," said Sakura bitterly.

As Sakura turned around and walked away, a hand grabbed her wrist.

"Sakura, wait," said Sasuke.

Sakura turned to face him, "Wait? Wait? I've been waiting for you for 5 years Sasuke! I thought that maybe, just maybe, you would have seen that your choice was wrong and come back to Konoha, and you're telling me to wait again? No Sasuke, I can't wait anymore. I just can't," said Sakura as she looked down.

"Sakura, but look. From the start, I knew that my choice to leave with Orochimaru was wrong, but that's the only thing I could have done at the time," said Sasuke.

"What are you talking about? Sasuke, you, Naruto, and I could have trained together and go after your brother together! That's what friends are for! You know Naruto and I would have done everything to help you!" said Sakura.

"Sakura, you don't understand-"

"No Sasuke, I perfectly understand. Now let me go so I can go on my way," said Sakura.

"No."

"Sasuke, let me go!"

"NO!! You don't understand anything, Sakura! I knew leaving with Orochimaru was wrong! I knew you and Naruto would and could have helped me defeat my brother! But Orochimaru was threatening me! He threatened to go after the one person I cared for! He threatened to kill you in front of me Sakura! I couldn't have you die!" yelled Sasuke before he caught his mistake.

Sakura, stunned at what Sasuke said, just looked up at him.

"Sasuke, y-you cared for me?" whispered Sakura.

Sasuke hesitated at first, "Sakura, I cared for you since the day we first met. Ever since our first encounter, I began to care for you. I left with Orochimaru only because of that reason," said Sasuke.

"Then Sasuke, do y-you love me?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke just looked down at Sakura, not knowing what to say.

"Do you?" questioned Sakura once more.

"Yes I do. Sakura, I love you," said Sasuke.

Sakura felt hot tears fall down from her eyes. As she raised her hand to wipe them off, Sasuke pushed her hand down and instead wiped off the tears with his own hand.

"Sakura... please don't cry. I can't bear to see you cry in front of me. I can't bear to have you crying for me. All I've ever done to you was make you cry. Please, don't let me see you cry because of me ever again," said Sasuke.

Sasuke slowly pulled Sakura into his chest, embracing her tight. Sakura cried into his chest, whispering 'I'm sorry' again and again. Sasuke put his face into her hair and told her to hush.

After a while, Sasuke took Sakura off his chest and looked at her.

"What are you looking at? Do I have something on my face?" asked Sakura.

"No. It's just that... you're so beautiful," said Sasuke, smiling (A/N: OMG!! I know!! Sasuke smiling!!) at Sakura.

Sakura blushed at the last comment and looked down to the floor, too embarassed to look into Sasuke's eyes. Sasuke put his hand under her chin and rose her head up to meet his eyes. Slowly, he closed the gap between them with a sweet, long kiss. Sakura was shocked for a moment, but soon began to respond. Soon, their sweet kisses turned into a heated and passionate kiss. After their making out was over, they just stood there, looking at each other.

"Sasuke, are you returning to Konoha with me?" asked Sakura.

"No Sakura. I can't. I must kill Orochimaru and Itachi before I can return home," said Sasuke.

"Then I'll go with you! I want to help you! Plus, I need to gather much more information about Orochimaru's attack for Tsunade," said Sakura.

"Sakura, no. It's too risky and I can't lose you. You're all I have in this world, and I don't think I could live one day after losing you," said Sasuke as he looked down.

This time, Sakura put her hand under his chin and raised his head, "Sasuke, I promise. You won't lose me. I don't care how long it's gonna take you to finish off Orochimaru and Itachi. I don't think I could go back to Konoha without you right next to me. I can't live knowing that you're out there fighting by yourself. Plus, I got pretty strong from 5 years of nonstop training and working because of a certain ninja that told me of my flaws," said Sakura.

"Sakura...are you sure you can do this? This is a big step for you to take. You'll be with me, but it might not be the life that you would want to take. Are you ready to take the risk?" questioned Sasuke.

"Sasuke, I was already ready for this from the beginning," said Sakura.

"Ok then. For today, let's just enjoy ourselves before we leave tomorrow morning to the Sound Village," said Sasuke.

"Sasuke? What were you doing in the Fire Country anyway?" asked Sakura.

"My team and I were sent to the Fire Village on a mission that was supposed to be really difficult. We were given a week to finish the mission, but we finished it in 2 days. A day ago, I saw Kabuto in the Fire Village and began to follow him around, trying to find out why Orochimaru sent him here. When I tracked him down today, I saw him fighting a black-haired girl. As soon as I saw you, I immediately knew from your chakra signature that it was you and you must have been using the transformation technique. I never knew Orochimaru was going to plan an attack on Konoha. If i did, I would have stopped him sooner. As soon as we return to the Sound Village, I'm going to plan an attack on Orochimaru before he can harm Konoha," said Sasuke angrily.

"Sasuke, if you're here with your team, what are you going to tell them about me when I come along?" said Sakura.

Sasuke thought about this for a while, "I'm going to tell them that you are a ninja from the Leaf Village that I caught as prisoner for Orochimaru. They don't know about my life in Konoha, so they won't question you or me as much," said Sasuke.

"Ok then, Sasuke. Oh, one more question. What happened to you after you left Konoha? You seem to talk more and express your feelings more now," said Sakura.

"Nothing happened to me. If something changed, I became even more distant and cold because I couldn't see you or Naruto or the village. But after seeing you today, I felt like I couldn't hold onto my feelings anymore and poured them out to you. It's you Sakura, that brought my feelings and emotions back," said Sasuke, pulling Sakura into his embrace once again.

"I love you, Sasuke-kun," whispered Sakura.

Sasuke, happy of hearing that all-familiar suffix, whispered, "I love you too, my Cherry Blossom," as they walked into the middle of the celebration and enjoyed their night together, happier than ever.

* * *

Yay!! Sasuke and Sakura!!

Many reviews please!!

Cilla


	4. Chapter 4

wow... sorry i haven't updated for so long.

i've been REALLY busy this summer gomen-nasai!!

okay, so here's chapter 4!!

* * *

As the bright sun rays shone into the room, Sakura woke up from her deep sleep and squinted at the bright light.

"Wow...I haven't slept like that for years!" said Sakura as she yawned stretched her arms. Just then, she was flung right back down onto the bed with a thud, with an arm wrapping her up and pulling her into a rock hard chest. At first, Sakura was terrifed of who's arm it was wrapping her, but then realized that it was Sasuke. She recalled all the events that happened the night before and smiled a geniune smile. She turned around so she was facing Sasuke and looked at him. For the first time, she saw Sasuke happy and content. Suddenly, as if Sasuke could feel her gaze upon him, he opened his eyes.

"Ohayo Sakura," said Sasuke as he rubbed his eyes to wake up.

"Ohayo Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as a blush began to appear on her face.

Sasuke, now fully awake, sat up on the bed, bringing Sakura up with him. Sakura blushed even more at the action and just couldn't look at Sasuke in the eyes. Sasuke was confused at Sakura, but then he saw her rising blush and smirked. He gently cupped her chin and rose it up so Sakura looked him in the eyes. He gently kissed her and smirked even bigger with the tomato-red blush she had after.

"Sakura, why are you so embarassed? I have nothing to hide from you and you have nothing to hide from me. All that you need to know is that I loved you, I do love you, and I will love you forever," said Sasuke, blushing a little at his choice of words.

"I'm just really happy that things worked out between you and I, and you know I love you too," said Sakura, feeling comfortable looking at Sasuke.

"Okay then, let's wash up and eat breakfast," said Sasuke.

* * *

After breakfast, Sasuke and Sakura got ready to leave and meet Sasuke's team, Team Hebi, at the gates. (A/N: yes, i know things are a little messed up right now, but i'll explain at the bottom.) As they were walking over to the gates, Sakura could only smile at Sasuke, but Sasuke didn't return the smile back and showed his no-emotion face the whole time, and Sakura could only sulk and wonder what went wrong. Finally, Sakura had enough and stopped Sasuke in his tracks before he could move anymore further.

"Sasuke-kun? Are you okay?" asked Sakura.

"I'm fine Sakura. Now let's go," said Sasuke, trying to take a step.

Sakura stops him once again, "Sasuke, what the heck is wrong with you? I thought you were happy that I was here, right by your side. I try to show you affection from deep inside my heart, but you block me out! It's like you built an icecube over your heart again! Is it me? Did I do something wrong to make you go back to normal?" said Sakura, so angry that tears threatened to fall.

She thought she broke down that barrier between her and Sasuke, the icecube between her heart and his heart. She could only think that she did something wrong during the time they had spent together. Sakura couldn't bear to look up at Sasuke's face and just looked down at the ground, angry at herself for slipping up. Suddenly, arms wound on her shoulders and pulled her close into Sasuke. Sakura wound her arms around Sasuke's waist and stood there for a while. The one thing that surprised her greatly was that Sasuke held onto her so close to him that he almost knocked her breath out of her body. After a while, Sasuke spoke up.

"Sakura... nothing is and has been your fault. It's just that... just that..." said Sasuke, not continuing.

Sakura looked up from his chest and looked into his face. His whole face showed signs of sadness, sorrow, and worry. But before she got wounded up in his emotions, she spoke up.

"It's just what? What is it Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"It's just that...if you're gonna follow me and Team Hebi to Orochimaru's lair, you're gonna have to be my prisoner. You're gonna have to go through a lot, and I'm terrified of losing you," said Sasuke, bowing his head down and not meeting her eyes, afraid of what he might see in them.

But Sakura cupped her hands on both sides of his face and looked right into his eyes, "Sasuke, I don't care if I'm your prisoner. I don't care if I'm gonna go through a lot. All that matters is that I'm with you. All that matters is that you're gonna be right there to help me if I get in trouble. And Sasuke, you saw ME fighting with Orochimaru's SECOND. If I were able to damage him tremendously, what makes you think I can't deal with your team, the sound ninjas, or even Orochimaru himself?" said Sakura, as Sasuke winced at the thought of his Sakura fighting that evil snake bastard.

"But are you sure? Are you sure you want to leave with me? Are you sure to leave behind Konoha in the dust just so you can be with a demon? An avenger? Me? Sakura, you have two choices, two paths that are laid out for you. One is going back to Konoha without me and waiting for me to come back until I killed Orochimaru and Itachi. If you go back to Konoha, you'll be safe with Naruto, Kakashi sensei, and Tsunade-sama. Two is coming with me, being my prisoner, going to Orochimaru's lair, and watching me kill him and later on my brother. If you come with me, there's danger lurking around every corner. There's even a possibly that one of us might not even be able to make it. Even though I wish you chose the first path, it's up to you to make a decision," said Sasuke.

Sakura did not hesistate one moment to answer, "Sasuke-kun, I'm going with you. Whatever it takes, I'm going to go with you. I'm not afraid of death if it means I died protecting the one I love," said Sakura.

Sasuke was very uneasy and terrified at her decision, but nontheless respected her for it, "Okay then Sakura. But don't worry, I'll defeat Orochimaru and Itachi and we'll be able to go through the gates of Konoha together," said Sasuke as they continued walking towards the gate.

Soon enough, they were near, but not near enough so the 3 Team Hebi ninjas could sense their chakra. Sasuke stopped Sakura and carefully pulled something out of his pack.

"Sakura, I'm so sorry, but I'm going to have to tie your hands up so we can pretend that you're my prisoner," said Sasuke, with sorrow and sadness written all over his face.

"Sasuke-kun, don't worry. I'll be fine, you know me," said Sakura, giving Sasuke a great big smile to bring him out of his sadness.

"Oh and Sakura, don't call me Sasuke-kun, just Sasuke. If I let you use it, people are going to wonder why I let you say the suffix after my name," said Sasuke.

"Why can't anyone else call you Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

"Because only you can call me Sasuke-kun. I hate others that call me with that suffix, and people know I hate to hear it after my name, so they'll be wondering why I let my prisoner call me Sasuke-kun," said Sasuke, with a tint of smile on his face.

"Hmm...okay Sasuke-ku- I mean- Sasuke," said Sakura, with a smile on her pretty face.

"Wait a minute, Sakura," said Sasuke. When Sakura looked up at him, he gave her a long, passionate kiss that make her lips tingle.

"I don't think I'll ever have a chance to kiss you like that when we're with my team, so I was making it worth while," said Sasuke, smiling. Sakura blushed, but it soon swept away as she thought about Sasuke's team that they had to face.

As they neared the gates, they saw three figures standing in front of it. Suddenly Sasuke groaned and Sakura looked up at him, wondering if something was wrong. But all of a sudden,

"SASUKE-KUUUUNNNN!!"

* * *

Haha I bet most of you guys know who that is :)

Okay well, I explained in the chapter that things were a little messed up in my story, so I'll explain.

In my story, Konoha is not in the Fire Country. When Sasuke joined with Orochimaru, Orochimaru gave him a team, called Team Hebi. (sorry it's spoilers!!)

Hmm... and I think that's all the changes. The messed up parts were because at the time I made this story, I never watched the Naruto Episodes or read any of the manga. But soon after I wrote chapter 3, I watched all the Naruto Episodes and talk to a friend who reads Naruto manga.

So sorry for the messes!! But it's all about SASUSAKU, right?!

And yes, I know Sasuke's a bit OOC, but he's AWESOME like that :)

and I might not be able to post new chapters up that frequently anymore since I started school, but I'll try!!

Until next time! Cilla :)


	5. Chapter 5

ok, so this chapter is gonna be PRETTY interesting...

and there WILL be spoilers for those who don't know anything about the members of Team Hebi!

Normal Talking

_Inner Talking_

Ok, then, here's chapter 5!!

* * *

"SASUKE-KUUUUNNNN!!"

Sasuke groaned even louder, but only so that only Sakura can hear his agonizing pain. Sakura just looked over to the three figures. There were two guys, one had white hair and the other blond. The girl that called out her Sasuke's name had red hair with glasses.

"Is that what you were talking about? The whole suffix thing?" said Sakura teasingly.

"Yeah, it is," said Sasuke and smiled down at Sakura.

_"Of course, Sasuke-kun is popular ANYWHERE. No girl can resist his sexyness," said Inner Sakura._

"Hahaha, so true. But shhhh!" said Outer Sakura.

As Sasuke and Sakura walked over towards the gates, the red-headed girl ran to Sasuke and knocked him down, giving him a bone-crushing hug in the process. But Sakura, remembering from her training, did not show ANY signs of emotions on her face, even though it was REALLY hard to resist punching the lights out of that girl for hugging HER Sasuke.

_"WHAT THE HECK IS SHE DOING TO OUR SASUKE-KUN?! Sakura! Go SHANNARO that smirk off her face!!" said the Inner. _(A/N: just in case you didn't know, "shannaro" means something like "HELL YEAH!" and Sakura usually says it when she's destroying something with that mighty strength of hers.)

"I KNOW!! But I can't do anything! I have to act like I'm Sasuke-kun's prisoner!" said Sakura to her inner.

_"OMG SAKURA! WHY WON'T YOU DO SOMETHING? SHE'S LIKE, MOLESTING OUR SASUKE-KUN!!" said Inner Sakura._

"I never said I won't do anything. If she DOES continue to bother Sasuke-kun like that, I'm gonna SHANNARO her ass!" said Sakura.

Just then, Sasuke turned on his sharingan and glared right at the girl.

"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME, KARIN!!" yelled Sasuke as he pushed Karin off of him. When he got up, he stood right back next to Sakura and looked at her apologetically for what just happened. Sakura only smiled back at him to signal that she was okay.

_"SHANNARO!! GO SASUKE-KUN!!" yelled Inner Sakura, fisting the air above her. _Outer Sakura could only smirk at her Inner's comment.

Just then, the two guys started laughing.

"Hahaha I told you not to jump Sasuke like that, Karin!" said the one with the blond hair.

"She'll never learn her lesson, Juugo," said the white haired guy.

Suddenly, both guys turned their gaze to Sakura, "Hmm... so who is this pretty lady? A friend of yours Sasuke?" asked the blond, checking Sakura out. The white haired guy just looked at her, questioningly, and the red-haired girl glared at her.

Sakura felt so uncomfortable with a guy not Sasuke looking at her like that, and Sasuke must have felt that too, for he tightened up at what the blond was doing to HIS Sakura.

"She's my prisoner from Konoha. I found her during our mission in the Fire Country. I think she'll be of good use for us. She's top kunoichi and top medic-nin of the Leaf Village," said Sasuke, and only Sakura could sense the pride of showing off his love in his voice. The two guys and the girl stood gazing at Sakura, with mouths opened wide, looking like they were very doubtful of that kind of position coming from such a fragile-looking girl.

Then Sasuke introduced his teammates to Sakura, "Sakura, this is Juugo," pointing to the blond, "Suigetsu," pointing to the white, "and Karin," finally pointing to the red-headed girl. "Team Hebi, this is Haruno Sakura from the Leaf Village," said Sasuke.

"Well hey, even if you are Sasuke's prisoner, I guess I should give you some decency," said Suigetsu.

"Hello, just in case you might not know, Sasuke has a bad temper, so you should watch out," said Juugo as Sasuke glared at him.

"Well I'm Sasuke-kun's girlfriend, SO DON'T MESS AROUND WITH HIM! HE'S MINE!" said Karin.

"Haha, you wish," said Sakura, smirking at Karin for her foolishness.

"WHAT?! WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?! You know what! I think we should have a little battle right here! You seem weak and helpless! I don't believe that you're a top kunoichi and medic-nin! COME ON! FIGHT ME! I CAN TAKE YOU!!" yelled Karin.

Sakura just yawned, "Fine whatever. Only if Sasuke lets me," said Sakura, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke looked back and saw the wanting to fight in Sakura's eyes. He was NEVER gonna let Sakura fight, but he thought Karin deserved it. "Fine. Until one is helplessly being beaten," said Sasuke, smirking at Sakura for her already seeing competition within Karin.

"We will fight in that clearing!" pointing to a place a few yards away from the gates.

"Whatever," said Sakura as she started walking towards the place, with Karin running up ahead to get there first.

"Haha, this will be interesting to watch," said Suigetsu as he followed the girls into the clearing.

"I bet my money on that Sakura girl to win," said Juugo as he also went along.

Sasuke only smirked to himself as he thought, "That's my Sakura," as he followed the group, supporting Sakura all the way.

* * *

Haha, funny huh?

Karin's REALLY gonna get it now!! )

Well i think next chapter's gonna be pretty interesting too!!

Many reviews please!!

Until next time!!

CILLA )


	6. Chapter 6

sorry for not updating!! i've been sooooo busy with schoolwork (

but well, here's the action that everyone's been waiting for: SAKURA VS. KARIN!!

anyway, enjoy the chapter!!

* * *

"Ok, on your marks, ready, get set, FIGHT!" yelled Juugo, and Sakura and Karin both started to fight.

Suigetsu and Juugo stood where they were able to see the whole clearing, but Sasuke stood under the shades of a tree. He already knew what the outcome of the battle was going to be.

"Karin is going to be on the floor, almost dying, and Sakura is going to be standing up, without even a scratch," thought Sasuke.

Karin was running to Sakura with a kunai in hand, but Sakura easily dodged her. Karin continuously tried to stab Sakura in the arms, shoulders, and even her stomach, but Sakura was too fast for her.

Karin, retreated back to her stance and was breathing heavily from exhaustion.

"Wow... she's tired after 15 minutes of fighting... what a weakling," said Suigetsu. Sasuke looked at Karin and scoffed.

"She's lucky to even be on my team..." thought Sasuke.

"Yeah, Sakura-chan's definitely gonna beat Karin to a pulp now. Look! She's not even breaking a sweat after all that dodging," said Juugo. Sasuke then looked at Sakura and smiled. Of course, his Cherry Blossom.

Sakura charged at Karin, 4 kunais in each hand, and shot all of them at Karin. Karin dodged 3, but the remaining 5 hit her. 2 in her arm, 2 in her leg, and 1 in her shoulder. Karin fell to the floor, while Sakura remained standing where she was.

"Hn. You're too weak. I didn't even use my chakra," said Sakura as she walked over to the guys. Sasuke smiled at her for winning, but for also hearing her use his trademark "hn." Fortunately, Suigetsu and Juugo were busy getting Karin off the floor to hear Sakura's last remarks to Karin. Sakura smiled back to Sasuke, happy that she pleased Sasuke.

"Y-you bitch! I'm gonna get you next time!" said Karin as Suigetsu and Juugo were dragging her to a nearby tree to rest on. Sasuke tied Sakura's hands once more and then they walked over to where Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo were.

"Sakura, as much as I like Karin getting beat up, she's still my teammate. So use your medical skills and heal her," said Sasuke.

"No, why do I have to listen to you? I could care less about her dying," said Sakura as she glared at Sasuke.

Sasuke, knowing that this was just all an act, "Haruno Sakura, you are my prisoner. You WILL listen to me and heal Karin before I hurt you," said Sasuke, glaring back at her.

"No, I don't have to listen to you. You're not my sensei or my leader," said Sakura, glaring back even harder.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and grabbed Sakura's arm very tightly to show that he was serious, well at least to his teammates, "YOU. WILL. HEAL. KARIN. NOW."

Then Sasuke pulled Sakura over to where Karin was and sat her down. Sakura unwillingly knew that she lost, and healed Karin easily.

"There. You happy now, Sasuke?" said Sakura as she glared at Sasuke once more.

Sasuke just turned away from Sakura, "hn."

"That's what you get, bitch! Sasuke-kun cares for me! He's mine, so don't EVEN think about taking him! But I doubt that you could, with that big forehead of yours!" said Karin.

Sakura was furious, but she knew she couldn't kill Karin even though she wanted to, so she tried to conceal her anger by just walking away from Karin.

"Yeah, yeah, that's right! Walk away!" said Karin.

Sakura couldn't take it anymore. She turned around and glared at Karin so venomously that Karin, Suigetsu, and Juugo flinched from where they stood. Sasuke was confused. What was Sakura gonna do?

Sakura, then yelled, "SHANNARO!" and punched the ground underneath her. The ground split and cracked and rumbled and groaned. **(A/N: It's just like the Naruto Shippuuden episode when Sakura and Naruto were training with Kakashi and she used it on him.)** The cracks reached all the way to Karin, hitting her, and her only. Karin received more damage then she had ever done in her whole entire life. From the impact, Karin fainted, but before she fainted she heard Sakura saying something to her.

"Oh don't you worry, whore. I'm not gonna take your precious Sasuke away from you. But I highly doubt that you even have him in the first place. If you mess with me again next time, you'll be more than just unconscious," said Sakura as Karin fainted.

Suigetsu and Juugo were gaping at what Sakura had just done. They didn't think Sakura was that strong! They were so surprised that their wide-opened mouths were reaching all the way down to the ground. Sasuke stood indifferent, but on the inside he was surprised as well.

"Hmm.. so my Cherry Blossom did grow. She must be stronger than the Hokage-sama herself," thought Sasuke.

"Since Karin's unconscious and Sakura isn't going to heal her again, we'll just have to spend the night here," said Sasuke.

He looked over at Sakura, who was at least 20 yards away, "Sakura, come here," said Sasuke.

Sakura grumbled and muttered underneath her breath, but she walked over to Sasuke anyway. Her, Suigetsu, and Juugo all knew that she couldn't even dare to run away from Sasuke, for he would catch her in a second.

When Sakura stood next to him, Sasuke looked over at Suigetsu and Juugo. They were busy setting up camp.

So Sasuke turned his head and whispered into Sakura's ear, "that's my girl."

Sakura could only muffle her giggles at what Sasuke had just said to her. They both walked over to help set up camp.

* * *

When camp was all set up, Suigetsu and Juugo went out to gather some food. Karin was in her tent, still knocked out from Sakura's previous massive blow.

Sasuke was delighted. He could spend at least an hour with Sakura...alone. He knew he couldn't give her a kiss, for he wouldn't be able to stop himself from going further, and they would blow up their cover. Sakura also felt this way, so they just sat next to each other, looking at the fire.

A wind blew over the camp, and Sakura shivered. Sasuke noticed this and went inside his tent and pulled out a blanket. He came back and wrapped it around her small frame. She gave him a smile as a way of thanking him. Sasuke then sat down and started talking.

"Sakura, how is Naruto doing?"

"He's fine. He has two goals in life now. One, getting you back, and Two, becoming Konoha's next Hokage. And yes, it's in that order," said Sakura, missing her best friend.

"Hn. I see."

Suddenly, Sakura turned to Sasuke. Sasuke looked back questioningly.

"Guess what?" said Sakura.

"What? What could be making my Cherry Blossom all hyped up?" said Sasuke, smiling down at her.

"Naruto's going out with Hinata, yes, she finally told him. Neji is going out with Tenten, yeah, it was obvious. Shikamaru is going out with Ino," said Sakura, smiling.

"Hn... that's funny. The Hyuuga finally asked her out? And the Lazy One has fallen in love with the Flirt. Hmm... and Hinata has finally told Dobe," said Sasuke, smirking at this new piece of information.

"Yeah... I was really happy for all of them," said Sakura, and sighed.

Sasuke noticed this, "Sakura? What's wrong?"

"It's just that, back then, I was jealous of them. I could see from the looks that they gave each other that they loved each other very much. That was another big reason why I stopped hanging out with them. I couldn't stand all that love in the air, it reminded me of you too much, and what we could have been," said Sakura, water filling her eyes from feeling that pain once again.

Sasuke's heart sunked at what Sakura had said. He knew he had to make it up somehow, so he brought her up to his lap and held her tightly against his body.

Suddenly, Sakura looked up at his face and placed her hand on the side of his face, assuring that she was fine, "but now, I'm fine Sasuke. I'm fine because I have met you. I'm fine because you'll never leave me again. I'm fine because you love me."

Sasuke smiled and leaned in for a short kiss. Short, but it was full of apologies at the pain he had inflicted upon her, and love that he felt for her at every corner of his body. Sakura was shocked at the meaningful kiss, but soon she responded.

Sasuke felt Suigetsu and Juugo's chakra signatures a mile away, and stopped the kiss. Sasuke looked at her and apologized with his eyes for stopping their moment of bliss. Sakura knew what the reason was and smiled back, assuring him that it was ok. Then Sasuke set her on the spot next to him, and they pretending to talk about Sakura's village and her skills. Soon enough, Suigetsu and Juugo was back with an armful of food.

Juugo looked at Sakura, "Sakura-chan? Why are your cheeks red?"

Sakura realized that she was still blushing from the previous kiss that she and Sasuke had shared. Sasuke also realized this and smirked down at her, without Suigetsu and Juugo noticing.

"Umm... I think it's because I'm too close to the firesite," said Sakura, quickly trying to hide her blush.

"Oh. Okay," said Juugo as he and Juugo set down the food near the fire.

* * *

After they had eaten, it was time to go to sleep.

"We have 3 tents. One's for Sasuke, another one's for Karin, and the last one is Juugo's and mine's," said Suigetsu.

"Sakura-chan isn't going to sleep in Karin's tent, or Karin going to die, so Suigetsu, you should sleep with Sasuke and Sakura-chan can sleep with me!" said Juugo.

Sasuke glared dangerously at Juugo, "Sakura will be sleeping in my tent, for she is my prisoner. Karin will sleeping in her tent, and you two will sleep in yours," said Sasuke.

"Actually, I think I wanna be with Juugo. At least he won't glare at me the whole time I'm asleep. I won't feel like I'm in danger every single second of my life," said Sakura, looking at Sasuke.

Sasuke activated his Sharingan and glared right at Sakura, "you will be sleeping in my tent. I may glare at you, but Juugo can do far worse. I think you wouldn't want to get raped by Juugo, do you?" said Sasuke.

Sakura shuddered at the sudden thought and agreed to just spend the night with Sasuke.

Juugo grumbled under his breath, but followed Suigetsu into their tent. Sakura followed Sasuke into theirs. Once they were inside, Sasuke and Sakura laid out a blanket and two pillows. As soon as they laid down, Sasuke wrapped his arms around Sakura, holding her close to him, and squeezed his head into the crook of her neck.

"You're getting too good at this, Sakura. Suigetsu and Juugo will never figure out the truth. The only thing that is annoying me is Juugo and his obsession to you," said Sasuke, taking a good whiff at Sakura's scent of strawberries.

Sakura laughed at his actions and at his annoyance of Juugo, "don't worry, Sasuke-kun. I am and I will forever remain to be yours. Though, I liked that overprotectiveness that you showed back there with Juugo."

"Sakura, I can't believe you did that! You know how much I wanted to rip off Juugo's head right then and there!" said Sasuke, freeing his hands from Sakura and turned his head around so that he looked like he was sad.

"Aww Sasuke-kun! You know it was all an act! I wanted them to see that there is no relationship between us except for a man and his prisoner. All I wanted was them to see that I really hated your guts! You know I would want to spend every single night with you!" said Sakura, wrapping her arms around him.

Sasuke finally turned around and smiled, showing that he was okay. Sasuke held her once more and kissed her on the lips.

After their kiss, they both yawned and fell asleep, contently sleeping in each other's arms.

* * *

WOOOO!! That was a loooong chapter!

But i'm satisfied!!

Many reviews please guys!! Thanks!

Love, Cilla


	7. Chapter 7

Oh gosh, im sooooooo sorry guys!!!

School has been hectic, so I have been busy A LOT.

But here's chapter 7 :)

Enjoy :)

Morning came and Sasuke woke up first. He left the tent and a sleeping Sakura and went outside to the nearby river to wash up. Unfortunately, he met Suigetsu there as well.

"You're up I see," said Suigetsu.

"Hn," said Sasuke as he passed him and went to the river.

"Sasuke… about that girl, Haruno Sakura…" asked Suigetsu with a finger under his chin, thinking.

As soon as Sasuke heard Sakura's name, his snapped his head to face Suigetsu, "What about Haruno Sakura?"

"Hmm… well it just seems to me that you guys get along TOO well for her to be your prisoner," said Suigetsu.

"_Crap, I never did like Suigetsu, he's too observant,"_ thought Sasuke.

With an emotionless face, Sasuke said, "She's nothing to more than a prisoner to me. I'm just being decent to her because she can be of use to Orochimaru-sama and the village."

"Really? Hmm… If she's only a prisoner to you, I want you to fight her," said Suigetsu, with an evil glint in his eye. He knew that if something was going on between the Uchiha and the Haruno girl, they wouldn't be able to fight each other.

"Hn. Fine," said Sasuke, as he left the river and headed back to the campsite.

As he was on his way back to the campsite, Sasuke was thinking very hard.

"_I can't fight Sakura! I just can't risk of hurting her! But even if I asked Sakura to fight me, she's gonna be afraid to hurt me, and I'm pretty sure Sakura could do some big damage,"_ thought Sasuke worriedly.

"_But if we don't fight, Suigetsu is going to find out our secret and get us in big trouble! Hmm… damn Suigetsu has to be so observant!"_ thought Sasuke as he cursed inwardly.

Sasuke walked into his tent and gently woke up Sakura.

"Sakura…it's time to get up," said Sasuke, gently shaking Sakura.

"..What?... Oh, it's morning already?" asked Sakura as sat up and rubbed her eyes.

Sasuke smiled at her question, "Yes, it's morning."

Suddenly, Sakura stood up, "Don't touch me Uchiha! I know how to get up!" said Sakura loudly and walked out of the tent.

Sasuke was very, very confused at her sudden behavior, but then realized, _"She's trying make it seem like there's nothing going on between us. Hn, she's clever."_

Sasuke walked out of the tent and to Sakura. Sakura was confused, _"After my whole performance, he WOULD walk over to me!" _

But Sasuke just smirked at her face expression and said, "I have to tie your hands, Haruno."

Just then, Suigetsu walked into the campsite and Sasuke remembered what Sakura and he had to do.

"Sakura, Suigetsu is too observant and is suspicious of our relationship. He wants us to prove that there isn't anything between us by fighting each other," whispered Sasuke as he tied Sakura's hands.

Sakura gasped, "Sasuke-kun…there's no way that I could fight you! We could hurt each other!"

"I know, I know. But it's the only way for us to keep our secret private. So what I want you to do is to fight me as seriously as possible. Don't think of me as Sasuke, but as someone like…someone like… hmm…" said Sasuke as he thought of someone that Sakura absolutely, 100 percent, hates.

"How about Karin?" said Sakura in a deadly tone.

"Hn, yeah. Think of me as Karin. And I'll think of you as…" said Sasuke.

"Think of me as Orochimaru," said Sakura.

"Sakura, you are too smart," said Sasuke as he smirked down at her. Sakura responded with a smile.

Sasuke finished tying Sakura's hands and gave her one long, cold glare, and walked away to the others. If Sakura didn't know that Sasuke was only acting, she would have cringed into a ball at that cold glare of his.

It was noon, and Sasuke and Sakura prepared for the epic battle that they were going to have. As much as they both didn't want to hurt the other, they knew this was the only way that they could keep their secret from being revealed. Sasuke and Sakura stood on either ends of a clearing, and Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin stood where they would be able to see, but at the same time, not get hurt by any of Sasuke's or Sakura's attacks. Suigetsu was very much thrilled about the battle, Juugo could care less, and Karin couldn't wait to see Sakura's butt get kicked by Sasuke.

By Suigetsu's signal, both Sasuke and Sakura began. Sasuke unleashed his Sharingan and took his katana out. Sakura threw chakra-filled kunais and shurikens at Sasuke, but Sasuke easily dodged every one of them. Sasuke ran towards Sakura, katana in hand and stabbed her in the arm. Sasuke was horrified at what he had just done to his Sakura, but kept his face expression intact. Fortunately, the Sakura he stabbed poofed and turned into a log. Sasuke searched the area for Sakura's chakra signal, but to no avail. Suddenly, Sakura bursted out of the ground and punched her chakra-filled fist right into Sasuke's stomach. Sakura was at the brink of tears for what she had done to her Sasuke, but kept them from falling out. Sasuke swiftly disappeared and Sakura went after him. Meanwhile, Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin were talking as they were watching the battle.

"Hmm… So they do fight. Maybe my assumptions were wrong," said Suigetsu, in his thinking mode.

"Suigetsu that is just sick. Having Sakura-chan go against Sasuke? THE Sasuke? Are you frickin crazy? He's gonna kill her if you don't stop this battle," said Juugo.

"Juugo, you retard. When did you become the pacifist? You're only thinking like that because you're attracted to that that Haruno slut, even though I don't know the reason why," said Karin.

"Shut up Karin. But still, having a GIRL go against Sasuke is just wrong. He's not gonna let her down easy just because she's a girl. He's gonna go straight on as if she's the worst thing in the whole entire world," said Juugo.

"Shut up Juugo. I like this battle. It seems Sasuke-kun is winning, of course. That Haruno slut can't stand a chance to someone as glorious as Sasuke-kun," said Karin, turning her attention back to the battle.

Sasuke and Sakura were both worn out, especially Sakura. Sasuke had a few cuts on his arm and leg, but Sakura had cuts and bruises everywhere, looking worse than Sasuke. Sasuke smirked on the outside, but on the inside he was dying. His heart was ripped into pieces.

"My Sakura…" cried Sasuke as his heart tore over and over again.

"Hn, Uchiha. Are you satisfied that a few cuts and bruises have covered my body? This is nothing," said Sakura with a smirk as Sasuke saw a green glow emitting from her hand, healing her cuts and bruises as they passed.

After a few more minutes of shooting near-death techniques at each other, making attacks that dumbfounded Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin, they both stopped. Not because they had enough of fighting their lover, but because Sakura suddenly fell to the floor, exhausted and injured. Sasuke had a sudden urge to run over to his Sakura, but he knew he couldn't. After all this fighting, he couldn't just run over to her and ruin everything. So he just stood there, still and motionless as a statue. Suigetsu smirked, Juugo gaped in horror, and Karin happily cheered. Sasuke too, fell to the ground, but only because of exhaustion. He once again looked over at Sakura's motionless body.

"Sasuke-kun won! Of course! Yay!!" said Karin as she ran over to him, with Suigetsu and Juugo right behind her.

Sasuke stopped them from coming any closer, "It's late. You guys go collect firewood and some food, while I tie up our prisoner."

Suigetsu, Juugo, and Karin nodded and swiftly disappeared into the forest. When Sasuke couldn't trace their chakra signatures, he ran with all the strength he had left to Sakura.

"Sakura…My Sakura… My Cherry Blossom…Please wake up," said Sasuke, holding Sakura close to his body.

Sakura did not answer or move at all. This frightened Sasuke.

"Please Sakura… Please my love… I'm sorry…Please get up! You can't leave me! I can't live without you Sakura! Don't do this to me!" yelled Sasuke, and without even knowing, little rivers of water flowed from his onyx eyes.

He shook her again and again, but to no avail. He hugged her tightly, and kissed her cold lips passionately. Sakura's face was spattered with Sasuke's tears. Sasuke cried into Sakura's hair.

"Uchiha Sakura…I love you so much…. Please… Please… don't leave me… I can't live without you…" whispered Sasuke.

"………………Uchiha Sasuke…I love you too…More than my own life…"

Sasuke looked up, and gasped. Two emerald eyes looked back at his onyx eyes.

"Sakura? Sakura! You're alive!" said Sasuke as he hugged Sakura.

Sakura laughed at his actions, "What happened to the coldhearted Uchiha Sasuke I know and love?"

Sasuke laughed, and Sakura could clearly see the happiness in his beautiful eyes. Sakura then healed herself, and Sasuke helped her stand.

"Hmm…" said Sakura.

"What?" said Sasuke.

"If I clearly remember, did I hear you say Uchiha Sakura? Or was that just a part of my imagination?" asked Sakura.

"You heard right, love. Once we finish off Orochimaru and Itachi, you're gonna be mine…officially," said Sasuke, smirking.

Sakura screamed in happiness and hugged Sasuke close. When they parted, they shared a long, passionate kiss. They both couldn't wait until the day that they would walk through the gates of Konoha, seeing their old friends and senseis again, and live a happy, peaceful life.

**Two Months Later…**

"Hokage-sama! Tsunade-sama!" yelled Shizune as she ran to the Hokage's office.

"What? What could be so important that you have to make such a ruckus!" yelled Tsunade.

"It's a letter from Sakura!" cried Shizune.

Tsunade froze at the news. It's been 3 months since she's heard from Sakura. When Sakura didn't come back to the village after her mission period was over, Tsunade, Naruto, and the others began to worry. Tsunade sent numerous amounts of search parties to the Fire Country, in which Naruto, Kakashi, Yamato, and Sai was always included in. After a month passed, everybody began to lose hope of ever finding Sakura, except for Naruto. He was so brokenhearted that he lost not one, but two of his best friends. After two months passed, Naruto as well stopped searching for Sakura and continued to aim at getting Sasuke back. Shizune handed Tsunade the letter, and Tsunade accepted it with trembling hands. After a long, deep breath, Tsunade opened up the letter.

_Dear Tsunade-sama,_

_Hello Hokage-sama. Long time no see. I hope you haven't worried about me for all these months and I'm sorry for not contacting you beforehand and telling you to not worry about me. I am well, and I hope you are too. During my mission, I found out that the man that I was following happened to be Kabuto, Orochimaru's apprentice. I found out that Orochimaru planned to attack Konoha in a period of two months. I would have hurried back to the village to tell you of this future event, but I was reunited with Sasuke-kun. I told him everything that I had found out and he planned to kill Orochimaru for the village and his sake. He pleaded with me to go back to the village, but I refused. He gave me two ways, two paths. One was returning to the village, and the other was helping him bring down Orochimaru, and shortly after, Uchiha Itachi. I picked the second path and acted as Sasuke-kun's prisoner for a month. Tsunade-sama, take a breath of relief—Orochimaru has been killed. Sasuke-kun and I are now in pursuit of Uchiha Itachi, and we are fairly close. Don't worry about us, for after we achieve Sasuke-kun's lifetime goal, we will come back to Konoha. Hopefully you will welcome us back. And please, do not tell Naruto any of this except for the fact that I am fine and that I am with Sasuke-kun. I believe that I picked the right path, and hopefully you'll think that too. _

_Always Faithful,_

_Haruno Sakura_

"Don't worry, Sakura. We'll welcome you guys back," said Tsunade as a tear ran down her smiling face at the relief that her apprentice was well. She knew now who was responsible for Orochimaru's death, and was happy that Sakura and Sasuke were triumphant. Now, she could only await the day when she would hear of the demise of Uchiha Itachi.

KYAA!! :)

That was a pretty, pretty long chapter!!

Next chapter will be the last chapter for Two Paths! :(

But thanks to all of the readers that I might still have left, you guys are AWESOME!

Thanks for everything and many reviews please!

Hopefully I'll have the last chapter done by Christmas!

LOVE, Cilla


	8. Chapter 8

Like always, I'm so sorry guys!

It's my freshman year and the teachers are killing me with homework after the VERY SHORT winter break :(

I'm sorry guys…but I lied to you.

This will not be the last chapter of Two Paths! *applause*

Thanks for the reviews!

And enjoy this chapter! :)

**Chapter 8**

**Naruto's POV**

It was December.

9 Months since he last heard from Sasuke and Sakura.

11 Months since he's seen Sakura.

4 Years since he's seen Sasuke.

Naruto was worried. He was worried about THEM.

Sure, out of everyone in Konoha, he knows them the best and knows how strong they both are, but still, he couldn't help but worry about his lifelong friends.

"**Are they okay?"**

"**Have they killed Itachi yet?"**

"**What did they do with the other Akatsuki members?"**

"**How long is it gonna be until they come home?"**

Naruto asked these questions to himself every single day since he's heard about Sasuke and Sakura through Tsunade reading him the letter that Sakura had sent.

Everyone could see the pain within Naruto. So Tsunade sent Naruto to train with Jiraiya for a month to be distracted from thinking about Sasuke and Sakura. Fortunately, his strive to become the next Hokage made him train harder with Jiraiya, thankfully distracting him.

A month later, when Naruto came back, his friends, all except two, were waiting for him just by the gates of the village. As soon as he saw one person, he ran through the gates and hugged her tightly.

"Hinata…I've missed you SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much!" said Naruto as he pulled back to look at the beautiful blushing face of his girlfriend.

"I've missed you too, Naruto-kun," said Hinata as she gave him a little peck on the cheek, making Naruto blush for once at this action in front of everyone. When everyone saw his reddened face, they all howled with laughter. To avoid any teasings, Naruto grabbed Hinata's hand and ran. Naruto finally stopped at the park, where they sat at a bench to rest. When Hinata looked over at Naruto, she could see that he was deep in thought by the crease in his eyebrows.

"Naruto-kun, are you thinking about them again?" Hinata asked. Her stuttering disappeared as soon as she started going out with Naruto.

"Yeah…" Naruto whispered.

"Naruto-kun, Sakura-chan's been trained by Hokage-sama. Sasuke-kun's been trained by Orochimaru. They've both been trained very well. They're strong ninjas and can withstand just about anything. Don't worry about them, they'll be fine," Hinata said confidently.

"Of course they're strong ninjas, even stronger than their senseis, but, I still can't help but worry. What if something happened to them already but we just haven't heard anything? What if they were seriously injured while I'm at home, completely fine? I'm so scared of losing my two best friends, Hinata." said Naruto.

Hinata put both of her hands on the sides of his face and waited until he met her gaze, "Naruto-kun, have faith. I believe that they are fine and they will come home soon. You will not lose your best friends. You must trust and have faith in them. Please, please listen to me, Naruto-kun," said Hinata.

"Hmm… you're right Hinata. I'm just overreacting. Plus, they've already killed Orochimaru, so how hard could it be to go after Itachi?" said Naruto as Hinata smiled at him for lightening his mood back up again.

"I'm sooooo lucky to have such a wonderful girlfriend like you, Hinata. You're one amazing person!" said Naruto as Hinata blushed. They shared a cute, loving kiss for a moment and got up to walk around the park to talk about things that Naruto had missed while he was away with Jiraiya.

"_Yeah…they're probably fine. I'm just overreacting," _thought Naruto.

Unfortunately, Hinata was wrong and Naruto's assumptions were right.

**In a Forest near the Rain Village…**

Sasuke and Sakura were split apart, which could be very dangerous to both of them. They had finally found Itachi after long months of pursuing and coming up empty-handed. While they were in the Rain Village, they abruptly heard people talking about two men in full black robes with red clouds on them just pass by the town. They also heard from the gossip that one had scary, red eyes, while the other looked like a shark. They immediately followed after them and found who they were looking for; Uchiha Itachi. He was walking into a nearby forest with his partner, Hoshigaki Kisame.

Sasuke and Sakura attacked Itachi and Kisame with swift kunais and shurikens, but they both dodged quickly. But that wasn't the purpose of the kunais and shurikens. Their purpose was to split apart Itachi and Kisame so they could be dealt with alone; all part of Sasuke and Sakura's plan. When Itachi and Kisame were a few feet apart, Sasuke and Sakura both jumped out of the trees, Sasuke to Itachi and Sakura to Kisame. The epic battle had begun.

**(A/N: I must apologize, but I am not good at writing battle scenes. I am much better at writing romance than battles. But anyway, I have tried XP)**

Sakura and Kisame went head to head with their weapons. Kisame sliced the air with his Samehada, while Sakura did the same with her newly acquired katana that she had trained with over the months and developed with.

"Hmm… Haruno Sakura, are you not?" said Kisame with an evil glint in his eyes.

"I'm surprised that you remember, shark face," said Sakura, giving him her cold, death glare.

"Thank you. I am hoping you are well?" said Kisame as he disappeared into thin air and appeared right behind Sakura.

Sakura already knew how Kisame attacks from their previous encounter a year ago and dodged easily, "Of course I am well, but I'm afraid that won't be the same for you!" screamed Sakura as she threw kunais with explosive tags on the ends right into Kisame's face while he was distracted.

Kisame dodged easily, for he also knew Sakura's attacks, "oooh, feisty, are we?" said Kisame as he unleashed his water jutsu on Sakura. Sakura couldn't dodge and was hit with full force. Fortunately, the Sakura that was hit by Kisame's water turned into a log.

_"Damn substitution!" _thought Kisame as he looked around for Sakura. Kisame couldn't feel Sakura's chakra anywhere.

_"Could she be?" _thought Kisame as he looked at the ground. Unfortunately, he was too late in his assumption and Sakura shot out of the ground with her right fist in front of her.

"SHANNARO!" yelled Sakura as she dug her chakra-filled fist into Kisame's stomach. Kisame landed on the floor, spitting a huge amount of blood.

_"I can't believe I'm saying this, but that Haruno girl has gotten a whole lot stronger. She's faster and quicker than me. Could I possibly lose to her?" _thought Kisame as he used his water jutsu and covered the whole field with deep water. He hid within the water while Sakura leaped up into a high tree.

_"Where is that shark face?" _thought Sakura as suddenly her thoughts went to Sasuke. _"Oh my gosh! Sasuke-kun! I hope he's okay." _thought Sakura as she scanned the area for Sasuke's chakra. Soon enough, she came upon two high chakra signals. She immediately recognized Sasuke's and began to see where his health and chakra levels were. Both his health and chakra levels were okay, but she was still worried. She couldn't see Sasuke fighting, so she didn't know how it was going at all.

"_Sakura, you better stop worrying about Sasuke-kun. If you want to help him, defeat Kisame once and for all. Stop worrying and FOCUS!" _yelled her inner.

Determined by her inner's words of courage, Sakura focused her chakra into her right fist once again. As she built up chakra, she thought about the newly developed skill that she had learned from Tsunade long ago. It was like her chakra-filled punches, but instead, this was an actual jutsu. Tsunade told her not to use it more than twice a day, for Sakura will lose a huge amount of chakra at once. As Sakura kept this in mind, her right fist continued to build up more chakra. When the build-up of the chakra was done, Sakura leaped into the air and rocketed towards the water with her ultimate chakra-filled fist in front of her. As she performed the one hand jutsu, her whole body began to spin really fast. She then shot into the water, slicing the water in two and revealing the whereabouts of Kisame. Kisame was too shocked to move or perform a jutsu and was hit with full force by Sakura's new jutsu. The great blow of the impact was heard throughout the whole area, even to Sasuke and Itachi.

**To Sasuke and Itachi…**

"Brother, what a pleasant surprise. I didn't think I would see you here," said Itachi, too friendly to be meaningful.

"I am not your brother. And you know my reason for being here," said Sasuke as he activated his Sharingan, getting prepared to annihilate Itachi from the face of the earth.

"Of course you're my brother, but I see you have grown. Hopefully you'll be giving me a better match than the last time? We'll see how much that snake has taught you," said Itachi, with all seriousness this time.

They both got into their battle stances and began to rotate around the field. Sasuke and Itachi's strength and agility was evenly matched up as they moved around trying to find the opponent's weakness. Suddenly, they both heard the loud _boom _from not a mile away, and the winds violently blew all around, emphasizing the hugeness of the impact. Both Sasuke and Itachi stopped their battle and tried to understand what happened to the other two. While Sasuke was worried and feared for Sakura, Itachi just smirked.

"_That girl must have been pretty weak for the battle to be over in a few minutes," _thought Itachi as he lunged for his brother.

Sasuke easily dodged, but he could see that he was getting distracted. He was really worried about Sakura, but he remembered what she had told him before.

"_Sasuke-kun, you don't have to worry about me anymore. I'm not the little girl that needed protection every single second on a mission. I've grown up and have trained long and hard too. You have to trust me on this. I can do it," said Sakura, confidence plainly shown in her eyes._

"Sakura, I trust you. I trust you to be able to do this and defeat Kisame, but I also trust you to come back to me," thought Sasuke as he focused back on his target, Itachi.

Itachi lunged once again at Sasuke, but Sasuke being too fast, dodged it once again. But this time, Sasuke plunged his katana into Itachi's back. Sasuke smirked in victory, but suddenly frowned. The Itachi that he stabbed turned into a flock of crows and disappeared into thin air.

"_Substitution! That coward," _thought Sasuke as he searched the area with his Sharingan. Sasuke couldn't spot Itachi's chakra anywhere, but continued to search. Suddenly, Itachi appeared out of nowhere and kicked Sasuke in the stomach. Sasuke fell to the floor, with Itachi holding him to the ground with his foot.

"Did you like my new jutsu, brother? It allows me to disappear for a short time from this world, and then lets me reappear wherever I want to. That's why you couldn't find my chakra. I call it the "space warp" jutsu," said Itachi, kicking Sasuke in the gut. Sasuke couldn't breathe and let out blood from his mouth. Itachi grabbed Sasuke by the collar and held his face up to his.

"Mangekyou Sharingan," said Itachi as he focused on Sasuke's eyes. Itachi was all ready to torment his brother within the realm of the Mangekyou Sharingan, but nothing happened to Sasuke. No screaming. No crumpling to the floor. No nothing. All that Sasuke did was look right back at Itachi, smirking in satisfactory.

"Surprised, are you? I'm guessing you must be, since no one has been able to prevent a Mangekyou Sharingan from activating. But that's where you're wrong, _brother,_" Sasuke sneering the last word, "I've developed a stronger Mangekyou Sharingan that can prevent me from ever being affected by a Mangekyou Sharingan. A Mangekyou Sharingan that has been attained without the murder of my best friend. A Sharingan obtained without hatred."

All that Itachi could do was stare back at his brother in horror. A Mangekyou Sharingan stronger than his? This wasn't possible.

"It's time for you to get a taste of your own medicine, isn't it? MANGEKYOU SHARINGAN!" yelled out Sasuke as his Sharingan started to spin rapidly, focusing intently on the blood-red eyes of Itachi. Itachi, of course, couldn't withstand this immense power, and fell deep into the realm of Sasuke's Mangekyou Sharingan.

Once again, I'm soooooo sorry I couldn't update soon!

I kept forgetting about this chapter cuz of school and stuff, and I've been messing around with this chapter, trying to get it just right :)

Well, I think it's okay, but I hope you guys like it too :)

Many reviews guys!!

Love, Cilla


	9. Chapter 9

Hey guys! :)

Sorry for not updating for a while, but you guys already know me :)

Hmm…I think there will be one more chapter after this, and then I'm going to make another story! I've already got the ideas thought out! :)

According to my friend, (who's in LOOOVEE with Fanfics) thinks it going to be just AMAZING, so I hope you guys all will enjoy my next story too! :)

But enough talk, lemme start the chappie! :)

**Disclaimer: I unfortunately do not own Naruto or any of its characters. If I did own Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would have been together already :)**

**Two Paths- Chapter 9**

**(A/N: I think Sasuke is not as OOC in this chapter as he was before. Oooohhh… scary Sasuke!)**

Darkness. That's all that he could see at the moment.

Itachi didn't know what his brother was going to do with him in the realm of his Mangekyou Sharingan, but he knew it wouldn't be pretty. He was still pretty shaken up at the fact that Sasuke, his own brother, have attained a Mangekyou Sharingan greater than his! This was beyond belief for Itachi as he was kneeling down on the floor, just waiting for something to happen. He remembered years back to the days when the Uchiha clan was prospering in Konoha, and all was going so well with him and Sasuke.

**Flashback**

"_Onii-san! _**(A/N: which means big brother) **_Onii-san! I did it! I've attained the Uchiha Sharingan!" _said a cheery little boy as he ran right up to his brother.

"_That's great, Sasuke! I'm so proud of you! I think you deserve a piggy back ride!" _said Itachi as he lifted little Sasuke up on his back.

"_Yay! You're the greatest big brother ever!" _said Sasuke as he and Itachi went back to the Uchiha compound.

**End of Flashback**

"He doesn't understand…all that I've done was for him…he'll never understand…but I WILL give him what he wants…a good fight from the one person he wants to defeat," thought Itachi.

At that moment, Sasuke decided to appear in front of Itachi, his eyes spinning wildly.

"So now you know how it feels to be in the realm of Mangekyou Sharingan, eh? You become void of all feelings and senses. But don't worry, you'll be feeling a lot of pain by the time I'm done with you!" said Sasuke as he suddenly disappeared into thin air.

Suddenly, the darkness changed into a gloomy, dark Konoha night, many years ago, "I will show you what happened that night, in my perspective. You will feel the pain and agony that I went through and the thoughts that went through my mind that night…" said Sasuke, as a little boy was seen running home. All that Itachi could do was watch in horror.

As Itachi stared up at the full moon in the crisp night in Konoha, Itachi saw a little boy running past him with black, raven hair. "That's Sasuke," Itachi thought as he ran right behind the little version of Sasuke.

As Itachi was following Little Sasuke home, he could hear the little one's thoughts, "I can't wait to tell Mom and Dad and Itachi about my day at school!" As he heard this, his heart shattered. Even though all that he did was for his little brother, Itachi couldn't help but feel so sorry and regretful for what he had done to his brother that night.

When Little Sasuke finally opened the doors to his parents' room, Itachi couldn't help but kneel down in horror. He looked up at himself and shuddered. As he looked at the massacre through Sasuke's perspective, he thought of one thing. He was evil. He couldn't take anymore agony and grabbed fistfuls of his black, sleek hair and screamed.

"Stop it! That's enough! Stop showing this to me!" yelled Itachi at the top of his lungs. Suddenly, the scene laid out in front of him disappeared into the darkness as the real Sasuke walked towards Itachi.

"Now do you see what I went through? You don't know even tenth of the pain that I went through my whole life because of you. And now, you will have no mercy and die by my hands," said Sasuke as he grabbed his katana. But suddenly, Sasuke brought Itachi back out into the real world.

"I won't defeat you until you give me a good enough fight first!" yelled Sasuke as he pounced on Itachi's form, crumpled on the ground.

But, Itachi didn't attack. He stayed where he was, even as Sasuke's katana came in tact with his skin, piercing it through to his lower abdomen. All that Sasuke could do was widen his eyes in shock.

"_Why didn't Itachi move? Did he want to die?"_ thought Sasuke as he jumped back to where he was before.

"Sasuke…come over here, my little brother…please…I beg of you…listen to your dying brother," whispered Itachi, loud enough so that Sasuke could hear.

Sasuke, almost instantly, let his guard down and walked over to his brother's dying body and put his brother's head onto his lap. Sure, Sasuke hated his brother for killing all of the Uchihas, but he couldn't deny that deep, deep down inside, he still loved and cared for his brother.

Right then, Sakura came running through the trees, almost to the clearing where she could feel Sasuke's chakra.

"Sasuke-kun…please be okay…" whispered Sakura as she ran faster at the thought of an injured Sasuke. When she reached to the edge of the clearing, she saw Sasuke's form with Itachi laid down, head on Sasuke's lap. Sakura felt relief at the fact that Sasuke was not hurt at all, and didn't even have a little scratch. But she felt as though this moment between the two brothers was so personal that she hid her chakra from them and hid behind a tree, listening.

Sasuke was too busy with his emotions and the dying brother in his arms that he didn't feel Sakura's chakra that was all-too familiar to him.

"Sasuke…I'm sorry about everything. I really didn't mean to ruin your life. In fact, I was trying to make it better," whispered Itachi as he coughed up some blood. Tears were actually forming in the lower rims of Sasuke's eyes as they were in pain at the image of Itachi.

"Sasuke, they were going to hurt you. The whole Uchiha clan was at a meeting, and I was there too, as the oldest and heir to the Uchiha leadership. They told me that in order for you to be a good helper for me, the future Uchiha leader, they were going to put you through intense training and other things that would have killed you eventually. I couldn't have my loving brother go through something like that because of me, a worthless scum. I decided to kill all of the Uchihas with Uchiha Madara, but in the end, Father and Mother got in the way. I had no choice but to kill them, for your sake. I thought by doing this that I was making your life better, but in many ways, it has killed you even more. And I'm sorry about that," whispered Itachi, growing faint each second and getting closer to the end.

"Itachi…I…I…I didn't know. Why did you let me hate you? Why did you let me swear to get revenge on you? Why didn't you move when I attacked you?" questioned Sasuke, as fresh tears were leaking down his pain-ridden, heartbroken face.

"I wanted you to hate me. I wanted you to hate me for killing your family…my family. After I killed them, I knew what I did was wrong. From then on, I wanted to find you and have you kill me. I deserve it, Sasuke," said Itachi, gradually sagging into Sasuke as he grew weaker and weaker with the loss of blood.

"No…no…not like this…please… Itachi…" whispered Sasuke.

"It's ok Sasuke…I'll always be here for you…no matter what…Now go and enjoy your life for me, ok?" said Itachi as he smiled up at his younger brother.

Sasuke could only nod his head and whispered, "Arigatou…Onii-san…"

Itachi's smile grew wider as he closed his eyes and breathed his last breath. Sasuke then started to scream "No!" and placed his face on his brother's chest, sobbing.

Behind the tree, Sakura was crying uncontrollably and couldn't take it anymore. She ran towards the two brothers and sat down in front of the dead body of Itachi. She pressed her hands upon his stomach and forced all of her remaining chakra on him. Sasuke then raised his head and watched Sakura as she tried her best. After 3 minutes, Sasuke quietly got up and went behind Sakura. He hugged her around the waist and said,

"Sakura…it's over. He's not coming back," whispered Sasuke.

"No Sasuke-kun…No! He's your brother! I'm NOT giving up!" yelled Sakura as fresh new tears came pouring down her eyes, dripping on Itachi's body and Sasuke's hands that were intertwining her waist.

"Sakura…love…it's okay. He's gone. You've tried your best," said Sasuke as he slowly lifted the crying Sakura from the ground. Then he turned her to face him and hugged her as tightest as he could. Sakura then put her arms around Sasuke's waist as they both mourned for Uchiha Itachi.

"I'm sorry…Sasuke-kun…I'm sorry," whispered Sakura.

"There's no reason for you to be sorry, love. Now you're the only thing that matters in this world to me. Just me and you. No one else," whispered Sasuke as he caressed her face and kissed her hair.

Then Sasuke used _Katon Jutsu_ and burned the body of his brother, as the way tradition goes and buried his bones at that clearing. On the tombstone, it read, "Uchiha Itachi. A good son, and a good brother. He only lived to make the life of his brother's happy."

Sasuke was still holding onto Sakura, hugging her tightly. But Sakura knew this was wrong. Why was she the one getting comforted? Sasuke was the one hurting the most. So Sakura did the only thing that would make Sasuke feel better. She lifted up her head and looked into the hurting onyx eyes of Sasuke for a while.

"I love you, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as she leaned in, her lips meeting his.

Through this kiss, she transferred all of her sympathy and remorse for Sasuke and Sasuke could feel all of this through this one kiss. Sasuke could also feel, somewhere deep inside him, that Itachi was happy that there was someone there for Sasuke. His Cherry Blossom. By the time the kiss was over, both Sakura and Sasuke felt better emotionally. Sakura was able to be sympathetic and show her sorrow to Sasuke, and Sasuke was able to receive that sympathy and return to her his happiness of having her as his one and only love.

They said their goodbyes to Itachi and left for Konoha, together. As they were going, Sakura looked over at Sasuke. He seemed normal, but in his eyes, there was a sense of…nervousness? Sakura suddenly stopped on a tree branch, with Sasuke stopping right next to her at the next second.

"Sakura, what's wrong?" asked Sasuke.

"No Sasuke-kun, what's wrong with you? I would be fine if you were hurting or deeply sad, but why does your eyes show nervousness? How are they showing me any emotions at all?" asked Sakura.

Sasuke replied, "When I saw my brother dying, all of my guard that I've put up all my life went crashing down. I finally found the reason of the Uchiha massacre. I've completed my revenge. Now, there's nothing to hide from anyone."

"But then why are you nervous?" asked Sakura.

"Err…because…I'm afraid that from what happened before and what's being happening ever since you decided to travel with me, you won't marry me or love me as you did before now," whispered Sasuke.

Sakura blinked. Twice. Then she laughed and hugged Sasuke tightly, "Oh, Sasuke-kun! You're so cute when you worry!"

"What? What's that supposed to mean?" asked Sasuke as he lifted Sakura's face by the chin so that she would be looking into his amazing, onyx eyes.

"It means that you're so stupid to worry about something like that!" said Sakura as she dug her face into Sasuke's rock hard chest.

Sasuke, now starting to understand, "wait, so you WILL marry me when we get back to Konoha? And you still love me even after what happened with Itachi?"

"Sasuke-kun, OF COURSE I'll marry you! And no matter what happens, I'll love you forever and ever and ev-"

Sakura was stopped in the mid of her "Ever" when her lips were silenced by Sasuke's lips. After a few minutes of making out very lovingingly, they parted and Sasuke placed his forehead of Sakura's and whispered, "I'm glad. And you know what, love?"

"What, Sasuke-kun?" whispered back Sakura.

"I love you so much," whispered Sasuke as he showed Sakura a real, genuine smile.

"Me too, Sasuke-kun, to the ends of the earth," whispered Sakura.

After their moment of bliss, they both started heading back again to Konoha.

When they reached there, everybody, and I mean EVERYBODY, was there to greet them. Supposedly, word got around that Sasuke and Sakura were coming back home.

"Sasuke-teme! Sakura-chan!!" yelled a blond-haired man, the loudest of them all.

"Naruto, of course," said both Sasuke and Sakura as they smiled at their best friend, running up to them.

"You're back! Here, I'll go treat you guys to ramen! To Ichiraku's!" yelled Naruto, prancing around happily.

"Not until Sasuke gets my word of pardon, and Sakura reports to me," said Tsunade, walking towards the united Team 7.

"Tsunade-baa-chan! That's not fair!" said Naruto, but ran away as soon as Tsunade was about to punch him for being so annoying.

"So? Let's go to the Hokage Tower," said Tsunade.

"Actually, Tsunade-sama, can Sasuke and I go rest? We've had a long day's journey to Konoha. It's obvious that you're going to pardon Sasuke with 10 months of not leaving Konoha, and I can always report to you tomorrow," said Sakura.

Tsunade chuckled, "you know me too well, Sakura. Ok then, you guys go rest, and come to my office by 12 noon, sharp!"

"Hai!" said both Sasuke and Sakura, as they both left to Sakura's house. When they got there, Sasuke was just about to leave Sakura at her house.

"Sasuke-kun? Where are you going?" asked Sakura.

"Well, the Uchiha compound has to be renovated, so I'll probably stay over at Naruto's house," shrugged Sasuke.

"At the baka's house? You're never gonna get any sleep! Just stay with me, at my house, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura.

"Hmm…" said Sasuke, teasing Sakura with his long decision.

"Please??? Sasuke-kun?" asked Sakura.

Without an answer, Sasuke lifted up Sakura easily with his hands and ran upstairs to her bedroom.

That night was the best night that they ever had together.

They were safe at home, safe from Orochimaru and Itachi, and most important of all, safe with each other.


	10. Chapter 10

Hello!!!~

I'm sorry for all the supporters that I have left over for being sooooooo lazy. :(

There is one more chapter after this and that will be the end to Two Paths!

And on with my new story!! :)

So yes, here's Chapter 10!

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto or any of its characters…although I want to :)**

* * *

**Two Paths- Chapter 10**

For the past 2 years, life couldn't have gotten any better for the entire rookie nine: Naruto and Hinata were married as Naruto began to train to become Hokage, Neji and Tenten were happily married, hopefully expecting news about Tenten being pregnant, and Shikamaru and Ino were married with an 8 month old daughter named Akira.

**(A/N: What about Sasuke and Sakura, you ask? You will have to wait ^^) **

It was a warm and beautiful spring day in the Hidden Leaf Village, or more so known as Konoha. Four beautiful and happy women walked out of the neighborhood café, talking and laughing as they walked down the street. Their husbands were all on an important mission together and were going to come back today. So one by one the women said their goodbyes to get ready for when their husbands were returning home.

"Sayonara Tenten-chan!"

"See ya, Hinata!"

"Take care of yourself, Forehead!"

"Bye, Pig! Bye, Akira!"

As Hinata, Tenten, and Ino went their separate ways, only our pink-haired kunoichi was walking out from the main part of Konoha and into the suburban, quiet areas of Konoha, where the Uchiha Compound was the majority of. As Sakura walked towards the main Uchiha house, where Sasuke and she lived now, she began to reminisce about the past.

She thought about the day when Sasuke and she came back to Konoha, how they went to her house and were in each other's arms the whole night…and day. From then on, they were known as Sasuke and Sakura, never said separately. Sasuke adapted back to Konoha with the help of Sakura, who got help from the other rookie nines. Never were they separate, and they spent as much time together as possible. A little by little, Sasuke began to talk more with others and not only to Sakura and Naruto.

Then Sakura thought about 4 months after that day…the day when Sasuke proposed to her. That day brought so many fluttering memories…

**Flashback**

"_Sasuke-kun, where are you taking me?" said Sakura, blindfolded by her boyfriend._

"_Don't worry, Sakura," said Sasuke as he took the blindfold off of his girlfriend._

_In front of them were a grove full of Cherry Blossom trees, and the pretty pink petals were fluttering around them by the wind. Sakura turned to look at Sasuke with happiness and kissed him on the cheek._

"_Sasuke-kun! This place is amazing! How did you ever find-"_

_Sakura suddenly stopped at the new emotion evident in Sasuke's eyes. But Sakura was confused, for this new emotion was a tint of…nervousness?_

"_Sasuke, what's wrong? Are you okay-"_

_Suddenly Sasuke dropped to one knee and took something out from his pocket. Sakura could only stare down at him in shock. Sasuke took out the ring and looked straight up into Sakura's eyes._

"_Sakura…I loved you ever since we knew each other, I love you so much right now, at this moment. And I promise to love you forever and ever. Don't ever leave my side and stay with me for all eternity. Sakura…will you marry me?" asked Sasuke, nervously._

_Sakura did not say anything, but Sasuke saw the tears starting to pour from her eyes._

"_Sakura! What's the matter-"_

_Sasuke was stopped abruptly when Sakura crouched down and embraced him tightly._

_"Nothing's wrong, Sasuke-kun. I'm crying because I'm so happy. I've dreamed about this day ever since I knew I loved you. And my answer is yes," whispered Sakura._

_"W-wait, so your answer is..."_

_"YES! YES Sasuke-kun! I'll love you forever and ever and I'll be by your side until the ends of the earth. I will help you revive your- I mean- our clan!" said Sakura as they got up. Sasuke then put the ring onto Sakura's finger. It fit perfectly. Sakura couldn't take her eyes off of the amazing ring, with its diamonds and emerald intertwined with each other. Then they both looked into each other's eyes._

_Sasuke smiled brightly, "I love you, Uchiha Sakura," as he pulled Sakura in for a deep, loving kiss._

**End of Flashback**

Sakura was daydreaming peacefully, but then a sudden kick in her lower abdomen brought her back to reality. She realized that she was already at the gates of the Uchiha compound.

"Yes I know, little Itachi. I miss your daddy too. He'll be home soon, so mommy should make some food for him and you," cooed Sakura as she walked into her home.

Yes, Sakura was almost 9 months pregnant with Sasuke's baby. When they heard from Tsunade-sama that their baby was a boy, they immediately knew what his name would be. Uchiha Itachi. Both Sasuke and Sakura chose this, and they hoped that little Itachi would be as great and skilled a person as his uncle had been. As Sakura was thinking of her wonderful and loving husband, she smiled and put on her apron and started to cook an amazing dinner just for him…and their baby too.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sasuke and the other rookie nine guys were closing in on the gates of Konoha. He could see the smiling faces of Naruto, Neji, and Shikamaru as they thought of their beautiful wives back at home waiting for them and couldn't help to smile himself.

He thought about his beautiful, cheery, but also brave and strong wife of his and of the son that is on his way. He suddenly had a dominating emotion deep within him: worry. Two weeks ago, when it was the day for him to leave on the mission, he couldn't bear to leave his pregnant wife to fend for herself while she had the possibility of going into labor while he was away. But then he remembered what Sakura had said to him that day that had given him assurance:

"_Sasuke-kun, this mission is important to the future of our village, and eventually, the future of our little Itachi. Like I always say, I'll be fine. I can always call up any of the girls or even Tsunade-sama and Shizune-sama if I need help on anything. Now, don't worry about me and do well on this mission. You're the mission leader, so you have to do a great job leading your team. And Itachi is going to come when you're here with me, so don't worry about me going into labor while you're on the mission. I would know, since I check his health everyday. You know me, I'm strong enough to fend for myself…although I'll tremendously miss having you to hug and kiss me for two weeks."_

When she had said all that, Sakura had smiled, and Sasuke had embraced her tightly, being careful of her protruding belly, and had kissed her, having her feel his sorrow and misery of leaving her on her own.

Sure, Sasuke knew that Sakura was a strong woman, but he still couldn't help but worry.

"Yo Sasuke-teme, what's wrong with you? Why are you suddenly going faster?" asked Naruto, cluelessly.

"Obviously he's trying to get back home fast to see his wife, like we all are," said Neji, rolling his eyes at Naruto's cluelessness.

"And he's worrying so much about leaving Sakura to fend for herself while she's pregnant that he's trying to get there first," said Shikamaru, saying as a statement-of-fact.

"Ohhhh…I see. Sasuke-teme, Sakura-chan is probably fine. I mean, she's even strong with little Itachi-"said Naruto, being cut off by Sasuke.

"I KNOW she's fine, Dobe, she's stronger and braver than you," growled Sasuke.

"Then why are you worrying over her if you know that she's strong and brave?" questioned Naruto.

Sasuke sighed, "Ok, let's put it in a way that even YOU can understand. Hinata is a strong woman herself, right?" said Sasuke, while Neji and Shikamaru were listening to what he was going to say.

"Of course she's a strong woman!" yelled Naruto.

"Ok, but let's say she was pregnant and could go into labor any day, but you had to go on a mission away from her for more than a week. How would you feel?" asked Sasuke.

Naruto, suddenly speechless, "OMG I WOULD BE FREAKING OUT IF I WERE YOU!!!!! HINATA-CHAN!!!" yelled Naruto.

"…Exactly," said Sasuke as he whizzed past Naruto, who finally understood how Sasuke felt.

"Well put, Uchiha," said Neji.

"If Naruto didn't understand after your clear explanation, I would have thought twice about supporting him to become the sixth Hokage," said Shikamaru.

Finally, after all of that talking, they had reached the gigantic gates of Konoha and opened it, gaining entrance by the guards at the gates.

"Crap!" yelled Sasuke, glaring at the ground as he walked into the village.

"What's up?" asked Shikamaru, Neji, and Naruto.

"Since I'm the mission leader, I have to report to Hokage-sama about the mission," seethed Sasuke.

"So what?" asked Naruto.

"I CAN'T SEE SAKURA UNTIL LATER," said Sasuke, half-furious for not being able to see his wife sooner, and half-furious that Naruto NEVER understands anything.

"Sheesh Sasuke, chill. Naruto and I will go and report to Hokage-sama. She'll understand perfectly why you couldn't report to her personally," said Neji.

"Aww…why do I have to go? I want to see my Hinata-chan! Shikamaru, you can go with Neji!" said Naruto.

"Naruto, Shikamaru has to go take care of his daughter, so you're coming with me," said Neji, concluding the issue, while Naruto frowned because Neji was right.

"Arigato, Neji," said Sasuke as he disappeared into thin air, teleporting himself to the front of the Uchiha Compound.

Sasuke ran up to the mansion that he calls home with lightning speed and entered his house. Inside the house, Sasuke could smell all different kinds of savory foods that were watering his mouth. But before he thought twice about the food, he thought about his lovely Sakura.

"Sakura?" whispered Sasuke.

There wasn't an answer, so Sasuke walked into the large kitchen, anxiously. To his gigantic relief, there was his wife, humming to herself as she was preparing the dinner. Sasuke didn't think about anything except how beautiful Sakura looked and how much he loved her. Quietly, Sasuke walked behind Sakura's figure and wrapped his arms around her stomach and put his cheek against the top of her head. Sakura jumped at the sudden touch, but then calmed down when she realized it was her husband, Sasuke.

"I missed you so much, love," whispered Sasuke as he kissed Sakura on the neck.

"I missed you so much too, Sasuke-kun," said Sakura as she turned around and looked into Sasuke's eyes. As she looked at the rest of his body, Sakura gasped in shock.

"Sasuke-kun! Look at you! You're covered in bruises and cuts!" gasped Sakura as she moved her green, glowing chakra hands all around her husband's body, healing all of the bruises and cuts as she went.

"Sakura, I'm fine. They really don't bother me at all. Stop wasting your energy on me," whispered Sasuke as he reached down to hold her hands.

"No, Sasuke-kun! Just look at the condition you're in-"said Sakura when suddenly, Sasuke grabbed her hands and lifted them up to the sides of his face.

"Sakura, don't waste your precious chakra on a few bruises and cuts. Save your energy for our son," whispered Sasuke as he reached down to straighten the worry formed on Sakura's brows while Sakura caressed Sasuke's cheeks.

"Oh Sasuke-kun, you're finally back!" said Sakura as she placed her arms around Sasuke's waist and placed her head on his chest, sighing contently.

"Sakura, you don't know how worried I was away from you and Itachi," said Sasuke as he placed kisses on the top of her head.

"Oh Sasuke, I told you not to worry about me," said Sakura as she looked up at her husband lovingly.

"But you know me, I can't live a day without looking at your beautiful face and thinking that you're the most perfect woman in the world and that I love you so much," said Sasuke as he smiled at his beautiful wife.

"And I can't live without you too," said a smiling Sakura as she leaned in for a sweet welcome home kiss.

* * *

After a tasty and delectable dinner, Sasuke and Sakura sat on their couch, Sasuke holding Sakura, as he told her about the mission.

"So in the end we had to negotiate with the other village and get the scroll and documents," said Sasuke.

Sakura, who would usually respond to whatever Sasuke would say, was quiet.

"Sakura?" said Sasuke as he looked down.

Sakura was sleeping soundlessly in his arms, looking very happy.

"_She must be tired from spending all that time standing in the kitchen cooking and wasting her chakra on me," _thought Sasuke.

Sasuke then realized how lonely it must have been for her sleeping in the mansion all by herself, so he could perfectly understand her happiness, because he was happy too. He picked up the sleeping Sakura in his arms with ease and took her up the flight of stairs into the master bedroom. After he laid Sakura on the bed, he tucked her in and went to the bathroom for a shower. Since Sakura healed most of the injuries, there were barely any marks on his skin.

When Sasuke came out of the shower, dressed in a t-shirt and shorts, he could hear Sakura mumbling as she dreamed.

"Sasuke-kun, I love you so much, more than my own life… now let's share our love with our son…" whispered Sakura in her sleep.

"Sakura…I love you so much too, more than anything in the world," whispered back Sasuke, smiling. He then got into the blanket and held Sakura close to his body, wrapping his arms around her waist. Sakura automatically placed her head on his chest, going back to sleep. Then the smiling Sasuke kissed the top of his wife's head and fell into a deep slumber after a day of hard work.

* * *

Suddenly, Sasuke got up with a jolt. The reason for his awakening was due to Sakura screaming her lungs out in his arms.

"Sakura!! What's wrong?" yelled Sasuke, frantically holding his wife closer to his body.

"Oh my gosh, Sasuke-kun! My water broke! Itachi's trying to come out!" screaming Sakura.

Sasuke, shocked and momentarily frozen, woke up and lifted Sakura out of the bed and held her hand as they tried to hurry and leave the house. He didn't bother to think about what Sakura or he looked like, but only of Sakura's health and Itachi. As they left the Uchiha house, Sakura groaned screamed in pain.

"Sasuke-kun! I can't walk anymore! It hurts too much!" yelled Sakura as more jolts of pain caused Sakura to crouch down on the ground.

"Sakura! Don't worry about walking! Just focus on Itachi!" said Sasuke as he abruptly carried Sakura bride-style and tried to run out of the Uchiha compound and into the main part of Konoha, where Konoha Hospital stood. Sasuke, exhausted, finally reached the hospital, calling for all the nurses to help him.

"Hurry everyone! Sakura-sama is going into labor! Help Uchiha-san!" yelled the head nurse.

"Hai!" yelled the nurses as they proceeded to help Sasuke carry Sakura into the pregnancy room.

When they laid Sakura on the bed, Sasuke grabbed Sakura's hands tightly, "Sweetheart, I KNOW you can do this. You are a strong woman, and you can pull through this," said Sasuke looking into Sakura's emerald eyes.

"I know, Sasuke-kun, and I will. You know I can do anything for you and for your clan," said Sakura, smiling up at her husband's onyx eyes.

"You mean you can do anything for US and for OUR clan," said Sasuke, smiling back.

"Right," said Sakura, laughing, but the laugh was cut short when suddenly Sakura started writhing in pain.

Sasuke, who couldn't stand Sakura in pain even though it's for their son, told Sakura that he'll be right back and went outside of the room. He sat in one of the chairs and closed his eyes.

_"Sakura…please pull through this. I know you can. You know I can't live without you," _thought Sasuke.

_**"Sasuke, you baka! What are you doing out here! Go in and be there for Sakura! She's gonna be fine!" **_yelled his inner.

_"I know that! But seeing her in pain and screaming is unbearable. This is a pain and difficulty that she has to face alone. I can't help her. And this fact is killing me," _said Sasuke to his inner.

_**"Right now, Sakura and your son is all that matters. You cannot think about yourself right now. Now go in there and help Sakura," **_said his inner.

As Sasuke stood up and headed for the door, someone called him from behind.

"Uchiha! Where is she?" said a feminine voice.

"She's in the room up ahead, Hokage-sama," said Sasuke.

"Well, what are you doing here? You should be in there with Sakura!" yelled Tsunade, punching Sasuke's arm.

"I was just about to go right back in, "whispered Sasuke as he massaged the place where Tsunade had hit him, where a bruise was forming already.

Sasuke and Tsunade walked into the pregnancy room, where Sakura was sitting upright in her bed, and caressing her belly. When she heard the door open and close, she looked up and smiled. Her husband and her mother-like-sensei walked in and she couldn't help to smiled at two of the most important people in her life.

Sasuke walked right up to her and grabbed her hands again, "Sakura, how are you doing? How is our son?"

"Itachi is fine; I just checked his condition right now. He's getting a little uncomfortable in there, but that happens to every baby," said Sakura.

Sasuke smiled, "I love you, my Cherry Blossom. I don't deserve you at all," said Sasuke as he kissed Sakura on the cheek.

Sakura laughed, "No one else can have me except you, love."

Tsunade then walked over to the bed, "Sakura, you're right. It does seem that Itachi is in good health. He'll probably be out in a few."

"Hai, shishou," whispered Sakura.

Suddenly, Sakura started to twist and turn in pain on the bed. She started to scream and yell. Sasuke was frozen in shock at the suddenness and couldn't move away from Sakura.

"Uchiha! Leave!" yelled Tsunade as she swiftly moved to where Sasuke was. Unfortunately, Sasuke couldn't hear anything except for his lovely wife suffering in front of him. Sakura momentarily focused herself from the pain and looked up into Sasuke's pain-filled eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, you must leave. I'll be fine without you. Let Tsunade do what she has to do. I'll be fine," cooed Sakura to encourage her husband.

"Yes, Sasuke, she'll be fine. Now hurry up and leave!" said Tsunade as she pushed Sasuke out the door.

Sasuke slowly trudged over to a bench and sat with his hands covering his worried face.

"Please be okay, Sakura."

* * *

Whoo!

Pretty good huh? :)

I couldn't help but put NaruHina, NejiTen, and ShikaIno in this chapter, and they'll probably be in the last chapter too. :)

Please read and review!

Love, Cilla ^^


	11. Chapter 11

*sniff sniff* It's finally here…

The end to 'Two Paths'…

Well, since it is the end, let's make it a happy one!

A shout out to all my supporters!

Enjoy the last chapter of 'Two Paths'!!

* * *

**Two Paths- Chapter 11**

Sasuke was still wallowing in worry when he heard a low chuckle.

"And to think that THE Uchiha Sasuke would be in this position, worrying about his wife and son," said the all-too familiar voice.

Sasuke looked and stood up, "Dobe, you're here."

"OF COURSE I'm here, you baka! This is Sakura-chan we're talking about! Sheesh, when did you lose all your brain cells?" shouted Naruto.

"Naruto-kun…please lower your voice…we're in a hospital," whispered Hinata, without any stuttering.

"Oh. Oops. Gomen Hinata-chan," said Naruto quietly.

Sasuke then noticed all the others behind the couple, "Everyone, thanks for coming," whispered Sasuke as he sat back down on the chair.

"Sasuke…you okay?" asked Tenten.

"I'm fine…I'm just getting worried. It's been 2 hours…" whispered Sasuke, putting his hands over his face again.

Ino sat down next to him, "Sasuke, Sakura's gonna be fine. This happens to all couples that have their first baby. The husband goes crazy waiting and starts to worry like heck. Right Shika-kun?" said Ino as she looked up at her husband, holding their sleeping baby.

"It was troublesome. I was about to break down that door and see Ino," said Shikamaru, looking down at his lovely wife.

"So…Sakura's probably fine?" asked Sasuke in hope, lifting his head from his hands.

"Of course! Except that she has to go through a lot of pain when the baby comes out, but I know Sakura-chan can endure it," said Hinata.

"Uchiha, just stay strong for her," said Neji.

"Yeah, teme. Don't worry too much, " said Naruto.

But suddenly, they heard a loud scream and jumped. They all realized that it was coming from Sakura.

"Sasuke-kun! Ahh!" yelled Sakura.

Sasuke ran to the door and was about to open it, "Sakura!"

"Wait! Teme! You can't go in now!" yelled Naruto as the others and he ran to stop Sasuke.

"Screw that! Sakura needs me!" yelled Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Sakura will be okay! She'll be fine!" yelled Shikamaru.

"I don't care if she will be fine later, I care about her NOW!" yelled Sasuke as he tried to pry open the door.

But then, something was heard from within the room, and it sounded like…a baby crying? Everyone froze from where they were and could only listen to the crying, even Sasuke.

"Oh my gosh…he's adorable. Sakura, congratulations," said Tsunade.

Sasuke then snapped out of his trance and went flying into the room. He could see Sakura was tired out but looking lovingly at the baby in Tsunade's arms.

"Sakura…" said Sasuke as he went over and kissed her sweaty head.

"Sasuke-kun, we did it. He's perfect," whispered Sakura.

"No, you did it. You don't know how much I was worried out there," whispered Sasuke as he hugged her, being careful with every movement because she was delicate and worn out.

"Why were you so worried? I told you that I would be fine," said Sakura, looking up at her husband questioningly.

"Because I love you so much, that's why," said Sasuke as he lightly kissed her on the lips.

* * *

Sakura was then was moved to a different room and Sasuke, of course, followed, while everyone else congratulated the couple, saw the baby, and left to go home.

Then Tsunade, having finished the examinations and checkups with the baby, handed Itachi over to Sakura, "M-my son…my Itachi…You're so handsome, you look just like your daddy…" cooed Sakura exhaustingly, "Here, Itachi, go to your daddy."

Sasuke then held the little baby in his arms, "Itachi… Sakura, you're right, he does look like me," said Sasuke, smiling at his son, then at his wife.

"Down to the silky black hair and stunning face," whispered Sakura happily.

"Sakura…he even has the beginnings of a Sharingan in his eyes…" whispered Sasuke, astounded at his wonderful son.

"Here, give him to me…I want to see," said Sakura, and immediately, Sasuke gave Itachi to her.

"Sasuke-kun, you're right. He already has the Sharingan forming in his eyes," said Sakura as she saw the dark onyx eyes of her son turn a slight red.

"I can see him becoming the child prodigy of the Ninja Academy," said Sasuke, smiling proudly at his not-even-a-day-old child.

"Here, I'll take your hands off him for now. You two can see him later. For now, Sakura, you must rest and rejuvenate your body and energy. Sasuke, you too," said Tsunade as she took Itachi.

"Hai, Tsunade-sama," said the two.

Sasuke then dragged a chair next to Sakura's bed and got ready to go to sleep when Sakura tap him lightly on the shoulder.

"Sasuke-kun, just what do you think you're doing?"

"I'm getting ready to sleep, Sakura," said Sasuke.

"Well, you're not sleeping on that hard chair. Come up on the bed," said Sakura.

"Sakura, I shouldn't-"

"Sasuke-kun, I just had a baby pushed out of me using all of my energy. I need all the comfort I need. And I can only get that from my husband, you know," said Sakura, smiling as she saw Sasuke's sparkling onyx eyes giving into her demand.

Sasuke then climbed into the bed and brought Sakura closer to him, wrapping his arms around her shoulder and waist and putting her head on his chest. Sakura snuggled into his warm body and Sasuke held her tighter.

"Sasuke-kun?" called Sakura, looking up at her husband.

"Hn?"

"Now that your second goal in life, to revive the Uchiha clan, has been finished, what are you planning to do?" said Sakura.

"Hn…well Sakura, we can't really revive a clan with one baby…" said Sasuke, giving his wife a sly look.

Sakura finally comprehending what Sasuke said, "Oh! You're right…" said Sakura, blushing.

"But that goal doesn't matter anymore. I will now live my life to the fullest with a beautiful, sweet, loving, magnificent, strong, courageous, and just all-out amazing wife beside me," said a smiling Sasuke, kissing Sakura on the forehead.

"Oh Sasuke-kun!" said a happy Sakura, punching Sasuke jokingly on the shoulder.

"I love you," whispered Sasuke.

"I love you too," whispered back Sakura as they both fell asleep.

* * *

**3 Days Later…**

Sasuke, holding his wife's hand with his left and holding his son in his right, left Konoha Hospital and headed to their mansion. Sasuke couldn't help but smile the whole way, and this didn't pass his wife's eyes.

"You seem to be in a good mood today," said Sakura, smiling at her wonderful husband.

"Oh, do I? Well, I am pretty happy," said Sasuke, smiling back down at his beautiful wife.

Sakura, although knowing the answer, asked, "What could be making my husband so high-spirited?"

Sasuke looked down at his sleeping son and then at his beautiful wife, "I have the most amazing and magnificent wife that I can hold and love forever, and a wonderful son that I will pour out my love to. Life can't get any better, so I am happy."

"SASUKE-TEME! SAKURA-CHAN!"

"I might have spoken too early," whispered Sasuke. Sakura giggled and looked up.

"Naruto! What a surprise!" said Sakura, smiling happily at her brother-like friend and his wife, who was one of her best friends.

"Yeah…what a surprise…" whispered Sasuke, but that didn't escape Naruto's ears.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY SASUKE-TEME!" yelled Naruto.

"You baka! You're gonna wake up Itachi!" yelled both Sasuke and Sakura at the same time.

"Waaaaahh!"

"BAKA! Look what you did!" yelled both Sasuke and Sakura and both punched Naruto on the head, creating two prominent bumps.

"Owwww… I guess when you get married, you can't help but become alike…" said Naruto to Hinata as she tried to heal his two big bumps while trying to suppress her giggling at her husband.

Sakura took Itachi from Sasuke and tried to calm him down, "Aww, my baby… everything's fine. It's okay…mommy's here…"

After seeing that Itachi calmed down, Sasuke glared at Naruto. Even Naruto, who's used to Sasuke's deadly glares, had to cringe and step back.

"Dobe…"

"Teme…Itachi's fine now right? There's nothing to worry about," said Naruto nervously.

"Dobe… take Hinata and run home. I'll give you 10 seconds," said Sasuke.

"Teme, you're taking this too seriously-"

"10. 9. 8.-"

"Hinata! Let's go home!"

"Bye Sakura-chan!"

"Bye Hinata!"

"7. 6. 5.-"

"Sasuke-kun, don't go after him. After all, you were being too hard on him," said Sakura, holding her husband back.

"Hn, Sakura, I wasn't gonna go after him anyway. I just wanted him to leave us alone," said Sasuke, smirking down at his wife.

"You are one smart man. I think you're smarter than Shikamaru," said Sakura, looking at a smirking Sasuke.

"Hn. I know I am. I just don't admit it," said Sasuke.

"Admit what?" said a voice ahead of him.

Both Sasuke and Sakura looked up and saw Shikamaru, Ino, Neji, and Tenten altogether just walking out of a café.

"Hn," said Sasuke, "_ugh…another interruption!" _he thought.

"How are you Sakura? Are you alright?" asked Ino and Tenten.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Thanks to my wonderful husband," said Sakura as she smiled and looked up at her smirking husband.

"Oh my gosh...lovey dovey alert," said Neji, looking away.

"Hn…Neji, don't pretend you don't serenade to Tenten every night before going to sleep," said Sakura, smirking the infamous Uchiha smirk, which she already mastered.

Neji blushed while Tenten giggled at her red-faced husband. Ino laughed uncontrollably while Shikamaru smirked and watched Akira looking at her mommy curiously from his arms.

"That's my girl," whispered Sasuke to Sakura, making her giggle.

"Ahem, well anyway, we must get going, so we'll see you guys later," said Neji, holding Tenten's hand and starting to leave.

"Yeah, Shika-kun and I have to go give Akira a bath, so we'll be going too," said Ino, taking Akira into her arms.

When everyone had said their goodbyes, Sasuke and Sakura began to walk again and arrived at the Uchiha Compound.

"Home, sweet home," whispered Sakura as Sasuke and she went in.

* * *

Sasuke and Sakura just rested at home with their newborn baby in their arms, taking turns holding him and watching him. Soon enough, the sun disappeared and the moon appeared in its place. Sakura placed the sleeping Itachi in his new crib, which was set next to Sasuke and Sakura's bed. While Sakura looked happily at her sleeping baby, Sasuke quietly moved behind her and put his arms around her waist. Sakura automatically leaned into her husband's muscular chest.

"He looks so peaceful…" whispered Sakura.

"Hn," murmured Sasuke.

Sakura then turned around and faced her husband. She waited until he looked down and focused into her bright emerald eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, what are you thinking about," whispered Sakura, caressing her husband's cheek with her hand.

"Hn…I was just thinking back to when I met you 5 years after I left Konoha…how I saw you fighting with Kabuto…" said Sasuke.

"Oh! Really? Well what about that time?" asked Sakura.

"I remember telling you that you had two different paths that you could choose from. I was wondering what could have happened if you chose the other path- the path of just going back to Konoha and waiting for me here," said Sasuke.

"Oh…" said Sakura, thinking on her own.

"I imagined it to be like this. If you had left me and gone to Konoha and waited for me here, I think it would have taken me much longer to come back. I don't think I would have had the persistence that you had in tracking down Itachi, and the braveness to walk into Konoha alone, waiting to face punishment. And what if you met another man when you came back to Konoha? What if when I came back, I saw you married with a man and a baby in your arms? How could I possibly endure through that when I know that I love you more than anything, and yet you're in another man's arms?" said Sasuke, closing his eyes and cringing at the thought of seeing his Cherry Blossom with another man.

"But I didn't go back to Konoha. I didn't wait for you. I stayed with you until the very end. I didn't meet or marry or get pregnant with another man. I didn't do any of that because I love you. I knew that if I went back to Konoha, I would be worried that you might have gotten hurt and I couldn't heal you. I was scared that I could lose you to Orochimaru or to Itachi. I knew that the only way for both of us to be happy was to stay with each other. If I picked the other path, everything will have been different. But I didn't want it to be then, and I don't want it to be now," said Sakura, leaning into Sasuke's chest.

"Neither do I," said Sasuke, putting his cheek against Sakura's head.

"I guess I picked the right path," whispered Sakura, getting a little tired.

"Yeah, and I'm happy you did," said Sasuke, leading his wife to their bed. He laid Sakura down and got into bed himself. Sakura snuggled against him, putting her arms around his waist. Sasuke put his arms around her shoulders and enveloped her with his body warmth. Sasuke then kissed Sakura on the lips to wish her a goodnight.

Then Sasuke sighed contently," Yeah, I'm happy you chose that path; the path that brought us together."

"Me too…" sighed Sakura as Sasuke and she both fell asleep, with a smile on both of their faces.

Sakura then opened her eyes and looked at her husband, "Sasuke-kun?"

"Hn?"

"I love you."

"I love you too, but you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Of course, but I wanted to hear you say it."

"I love you so much, my Sakura, more than my own life."

"I love you too, Sasuke-kun, and nothing will ever change that," whispered Sakura as she hugged her husband tighter and went to sleep.

"Sakura…I know," said Sasuke as he tightened his arms around his wife and fell asleep into the night.


	12. Chapter 12

I thank all of the people that have supported me on my first FanFic- you guys are just simply AMAZING! :)

**C.A.M.E.O.1 and Only**

**Otakugal**

**Chiharu14**

**DarkFairyPrincess21**

**Beautiful Sakura-Chan**

**RangikuHime**

And to my real-life friends:

**Sora Kim**

**Sarrangxox**

And to all of my anonymous friends and supporters- I love you all!

I hope all of you guys will continue to support me as I continue to write more stories, and I will be expecting all of your reviews in my next FanFic!

Once again, thanks guys!

Love, Cilla :)


End file.
